Why examine state-level legislation?

More than 400 bills challenging longstanding public health practices, including vaccines and milk safety, are making their way through statehouses across the country.

According to an Associated Press investigation that tracked said legislation, these bills would do everything from ban certain types of immunizations to making the sale and consumption of unpasteurized milk more accessible.

Anti-vaccine bills are by far the most common. At least 350 of the 420 bills were related to vaccines. Some 11 states have already adopted more than two dozen laws restricting vaccine access.

Who are the highly organized groups behind this wave of anti-science legislation? And how do these bills fit into the broader dismantling of the country’s public health system?

Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. 

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy