Bill to end child vaccination requirements in Iowa exposes divide

All in all, Dylan Thiemann’s two children are pretty healthy. They get the ear infections and stomach bugs that younger kids can be prone to. But when they get sick, they bounce back.

Thiemann’s 2-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter got all of the vaccinations their pediatrician recommended, too, as did Thiemann, of Marion, and his parents when they were children. But not everyone he knows has made the same decisions.

“It’s kind of even hard to have those conversations without it getting heated or emotional,” Thiemann said. “I kind of try to pick my battles there.”

These same discussions are playing out in the Iowa Capitol as legislators consider House File 2171, a bill that would end immunization requirements for children in K-12 schools. The bill passed an Iowa House committee earlier this month and remains eligible for further action this session.

Medical organizations including the Iowa Nurses Association, Iowa Medical Society and the Iowa chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics oppose the repeal, warning it could put children at risk of preventable diseases.

Public health experts overwhelmingly agree that vaccines are a safe and effective way of keeping kids from getting sick. But despite record-breaking measles outbreaks across the United States — including nine confirmed cases in Iowa in 2025 — the state’s childhood vaccination rates are falling and religious vaccine exemptions are rising.

Iowa currently requires children to receive six vaccines to enroll in K-12 schools:

Vaccinations for COVID-19 and the flu are not required for enrollment.

Do research, but make consulting experts part of the process

Public opinion on vaccinations tends to be depicted as falling into two neat camps: for and against. The reality is more nuanced. According to a Pew Research Center study conducted in 2025, the majority of U.S. parents surveyed were at least somewhat confident the childhood immunization schedule was safe. Roughly a quarter weren’t.

While there are some families that decide not to give their children any vaccinations, some choose to skip or delay only certain ones. Others keep up with the recommended vaccine schedule, but have lingering questions about their safety and efficacy.

Thiemann said he’s heard the vaccine-hesitant people in his circle say people need to “do their own research” when making a decision about vaccinating their children. Thiemann said he’s done some research on his own, but he still defers to the family pediatrician.

“Those are the people we pay to trust,” Thiemann said. “If you don’t have that degree, you don’t have the background in research to actually fully do your own research.”

Heather Meador, clinical services supervisor at Linn County Public Health, said she thinks it’s appropriate for people to do some reading on their own and to ask questions. The most important thing, she said, is to bring questions and concerns to a pediatrician who can help them sort through the fears.

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“When you’re sick, your friend may be bringing you chicken noodle soup to make you feel better, but they’re probably not going to be prescribing medication if you have a bacterial infection,” Meador said. “It’s really good to go to that person who knows this area of expertise the best.”

Will Musser, father of a 5-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son, said he understands the need for skepticism. He and his wife took their daughter to the emergency room when they noticed a bump on her neck near a lymph node and saw that her face was starting to droop. The doctor they saw said it could be lymphoma, which Musser said felt like a bold possibility to throw around. Musser followed up with a different doctor, who said it likely was a minor infection that would clear up on its own. In the end, it did.

Despite that experience, Musser said he still trusts doctors to give him accurate information about his child’s health.

“Of course they’re going to get it wrong sometimes,” Musser said. “If you went to a doctor and you didn’t feel you were getting the right answers, then get a second opinion.”

Vaccine benefits outweigh the risks

Susan Ireland, a pediatrician at Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa Pediatrics in Cedar Rapids, said she’s worked with parents who’ve opted out of some vaccinations for their children. She said the difference in her guidance and the decisions these parents make comes from different understandings of vaccines’ risks and benefits.

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Lindsay Maher is a mother of four and part of the legislative team with Informed Choice Iowa, a nonprofit that advocates for what it calls medical freedom, informed consent and parental rights. The organization supports HF 2171, the bill that would eliminate vaccine mandates in Iowa schools.

Maher said adverse vaccine reactions are one reason people in her organization may decide against vaccinating their children. She said meeting families with vaccine injury stories is part of what motivates her work.

“That just tears me up, because of the fact that they’re on their own. They have no recourse. There’s nobody coming to help them with their child who is very medically needy now,” Maher said.

The diseases that vaccines protect against are more dangerous than the vaccines themselves, research shows. According to the Yale School of Public Health, a group of 100,000 children infected with measles could see thousands of hospitalizations and ear infections, with 10 to 30 children ultimately dying. By contrast, an equally-sized group of children receiving the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine could result in 3 fever-related seizures or potentially a case of abnormal blood clotting.

“I have seen many kids be injured or harmed by viruses and bacteria that can be prevented from vaccines,” said Ireland, the pediatrician. “I have never had a significant vaccine related injury.”

At a legislative hearing for HF 2171, some supporters argued the bill would increase trust and give parents greater control over how to raise their children.

“When government uses schools as enforcement tools, you create resistance instead of confidence,” Oliver Bardwell with Iowans for Freedom, said at the hearing. Iowans for Freedom supports the bill, and is another advocacy organization aligned with Informed Choice Iowa’s goals.

Musser had a different reaction. His daughter is enrolled in kindergarten, and got the shots required to attend.

“I don’t feel that my choices have been limited as a parent, so I don’t accept that as a pro or a reason to do this,” Musser said. “I just see where it could fall apart really quickly and cause issues.”

One concern Musser cited was the potential impact that lifting vaccine requirements would have on exposing kids who don’t have a choice from sicknesses that other kids around them might be more apt to contract. Children receiving chemotherapy for a cancer diagnosis, taking certain medications to manage chronic health conditions or who are otherwise immunocompromised can’t get vaccinated for safety reasons. The percentage of school-aged children with medical vaccine exemptions is decreasing in Iowa, but more than 880 students enrolled in Iowa schools this school year are medically exempt from immunization requirements.

In the past, Ireland said, parents came to her with specific concerns about how vaccinations might affect their children. Things are different now.

“A lot of times parents just say, ‘I don't really know. I just don't trust them,’ which worries me more,” Ireland said. “I think that when there’s more of this public shift of vaccines aren’t the standard … then those people will probably increase in numbers.”

Thiemann, for his part, said he feels lucky.

“We have access to the wonders of modern medicine here,” he said. “Why not take advantage of it?”

Comments: fern.alling@thegazette.com