Florida AG Warns Catholic Schools: Accept Vaccine Exemptions or Risk Losing Voucher Funding, Letter Says
The attorney general said schools taking state vouchers must grant religious exemptions or risk losing scholarship eligibility, as 88% of Catholic students use the aid.
- On Friday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier warned the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops that schools must grant religious vaccine exemptions or risk losing eligibility for state educational scholarship programs.
- Citing the Catholic Catechism and scripture, Uthmeier argues that Catholic doctrine does not require schools to reject vaccine exemptions, specifically challenging immunization policies from the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee that deny them.
- About 88% of the more than 94,000 students enrolled in Florida's Catholic schools rely on state-funded scholarships, part of a program serving more than 500,000 students statewide.
- FCCB spokesperson Michele Taylor said church leaders are reviewing the letter and maintained that Florida's Catholic schools are "operating in accord with the law and Church teaching."
- The warning arrives 10 days before the 2026-2027 school year opens, as Governor Ron DeSantis continues pushing to expand vaccine exemption requirements despite legislative failures to create a "conscience" category.
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National Catholic Reporter
The Catholic SunFlorida AG's threat to Catholic schools 'clear violation' of the First Amendment, law scholar says
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to the Catholic bishops of Florida demanding that Catholic schools in the Sunshine State adopt religious exemptions to vaccine requirements or risk their ability to participate in the state's school voucher program.But Rick Garnett, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, told OSV News that the letter "reflects a misunderstanding of Americans' fundamental right to relig…
Florida AG Puts Catholic Schools on Notice
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier warned the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops to accept students’ vaccine exemptions, lest they risk their state-funded vouchers. In a letter sent to FCCB Executive Director Michael Sheedy, Uthmeier wrote that it has been brought to his attention that “Catholic schools in Florida might refuse to grant religious exemptions to vaccination requirements for the upcoming school year,” and cited a policy tha…
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