Florida Catholic bishops rejected Attorney General James Uthmeier's claim that there is no legitimate religious reason to deny vaccine exemptions, pushing back against his threat to withhold state scholarship and voucher funding from Catholic schools. The bishops insisted they need not justify their position to the state and firmly defended their long-standing policy of only accepting medical exemptions.
Background
Florida law permits religious exemptions for school vaccinations, but the state's Catholic dioceses have long required vaccinations and only grant medical exemptions. The dispute centers on whether the state can use funding as leverage to override a church's internal policies.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Aug 27, 2026 at 03:39 AM
- Score
- 5.0 / 10