The conservative Wall Street Journal slammed Florida's attorney general for his latest effort to attack vaccination — this time by cracking down on private Catholic schools.
The Journal has frequently gone after what it sees as Democrats assaulting religious liberty, particularly when they try to enforce birth control coverage requirements — and they had just as much contempt for this particular policy, which they called a "dangerous constitutional turn."
In July, the board noted, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier "issued a peremptory letter to Catholic bishops accusing them of violating Church doctrine and state law by requiring students to be immunized and not allowing parents who object to vaccines for religious reasons to opt out. There is 'no legitimate religious reason' to deny religious exemptions, he wrote. Thus sayeth the gospel of James Uthmeier."
"He might have done Catholic bishops the courtesy of meeting with them to discuss the issue before posting his threatening letter on social media. Perhaps he thinks picking a public fight with the bishops is smart politics," the board wrote. Regardless, they noted, Florida's Conference of Catholic Bishops director Michael Sheedy hit back with a letter saying “any insinuation that a government official can dictate to the Catholic Church (or any religion) how to apply her tenets and dogma, violates well-established constitutional religious freedom rights.”
Uthmeier, noted the board, only doubled down after this with a social media post slamming the bishops, by saying, “Should Muslim schools teaching sharia law in violation of Florida law nevertheless get state funding? I don’t think so.”
"Is he really suggesting that Catholic schools’ enforcement of vaccine requirements is akin to Sharia law?" the board fumed, slamming Uthmeier for "a callow understanding of religious liberty" and warning he "will hurt children if he bars them from using state scholarships to attend Catholic schools."
