Florida has had some major public health changes in legislation and has made many promises that will drastically affect the lives of the citizens of Florida. Over the summer, the state of Florida passed a bill that will prevent the addition of fluoride into public water systems, as well as the Florida Surgeon General has begun to change the status of school-mandated vaccines.
Florida’s top health officials have stated that the state will begin to remove vaccine mandates in schools. The removal of certain vaccine mandates, as announced on September 3, will not require school children to have many vaccinations, including chickenpox, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and pneumococcal conjugate. However, there are many mandated vaccinations like polio, measles, and pertussis that are written into state legislation, which can only be removed with legislative action. Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo confirmed in an interview that his department has done no data analysis on how the removal of the mandate could affect outbreaks. According to Dr. Ladapo, “Ultimately, this is an issue very clearly of parents’ rights,” he said. “So do I need to analyze whether it’s appropriate for parents to be able to decide what goes into their child’s body? I don’t need to analyze that.”
Dr. Ladapo is striving to remove all vaccine mandates, saying that they go against “bodily autonomy.” Specifically, the vaccine for pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is “ineffective at preventing transmission.” However, research has proven that the immunity from the pertussis vaccine lasts many years and that it protects against severe illness that can lead to lung infection, pneumonia, or even brain damage. A study with children from the U.S. had found that those who weren’t vaccinated were 13 times more likely to get pertussis than those who were vaccinated.
Florida’s SB 700, known as The Florida Farm Bill, was passed and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis on May 15, 2025, and will go into effect on July 1, 2025. This bill will prevent governments from adding fluoride to the public water system by prohibiting “the use of certain additives in a water system which do not meet specified requirements.” This bill will make Florida the second state to ban fluoride in the public water system, behind Utah.
The reasoning behind this ban on fluoride is that fluoride has been proven to affect pregnant women and children’s health negatively. A study from 2019 had suggested that mothers who had more fluoride in their urine during pregnancy had children with lower IQ levels; however, the research couldn’t be considered conclusive. According to Governor DeSantis, “Yes, use fluoride for your teeth, that’s fine. But forcing it in the water supply is basically forced medication on people. They don’t have a choice.”
According to the American Dental Association, the comments made by Governor DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo are “misinformed and dangerous.” The American Dental Association fully supports the fluoridation of public water systems, stating that it is proven to reduce tooth decay by about 25%. In 2011, the city of Calgary in Canada stopped fluoridation of tap water; however, it was reversed a decade later, after many children had tooth decay and the rate of cavities went up significantly.
Florida’s public health policy changes, including the vaccine mandate reductions and fluoride ban, may significantly impact Florida residents and could influence other states’ future policies.
