Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has opened a new front in the state’s school-vaccine fight, warning Catholic schools that rejecting religious exemptions could put their state scholarship eligibility at risk. The timing is immediate, with Florida school districts scheduled to open for the 2026-2027 year on August 10.
In a letter to the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, Uthmeier argued that Catholic schools cannot turn away students with religious vaccine exemptions while accepting taxpayer-funded scholarships, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The conference said its leaders are reviewing the letter, which affects a Catholic school system serving more than 94,000 students statewide.
Why The Orlando Diocese Is In The Crosshairs
The Diocese of Orlando’s published enrollment policy says its Catholic schools require Florida immunization documentation and do not recognize religious objections to required school vaccines. Families seeking an exemption must instead provide a medical form signed by a Florida-licensed physician, with the documentation reviewed by the diocesan superintendent.
That policy is not new. In a 2014 letter still posted by the diocese, then-Bishop John Noonan wrote that Catholic teaching does not consider vaccine use intrinsically evil and warned that conscience-based exemptions could put children, teachers and parents at risk, according to the bishop’s letter.
The Legal Fault Line
Florida law requires public and private schools to maintain immunization records, but it also says the requirements do not apply when a parent objects in writing because vaccination conflicts with religious tenets or practices. The state Department of Health says county health departments issue Form DH 681, the religious exemption document that must be presented before a child enters, attends, or transfers to school, as outlined by Florida law and the Florida Department of Health.
That creates a collision between a state-issued exemption and a school’s own admissions rule. Uthmeier’s warning is not a court order, but it signals that his office may treat a Catholic school’s refusal to recognize religious exemptions as a problem involving state-funded scholarships, rather than merely an internal church policy.
Uthmeier’s Broader Religious-Liberty Push
The letter fits a broader campaign by Uthmeier to expand the state’s interpretation of religious and parental rights in education. In June, he told school boards they must accommodate off-campus religious instruction, a move previously covered by Hoodline.
Governor Ron DeSantis has also pushed Florida lawmakers to make the state’s anti-mandate protections permanent and add broader safeguards for vaccine-related medical decisions, according to the governor’s office. Legislative efforts to repeal routine school vaccine requirements or create broader exemptions have not all succeeded, leaving the attorney general to press the issue through legal opinions, letters and potential enforcement.
What Catholic Teaching Actually Says
Uthmeier’s argument rests partly on Catholic concerns about vaccines developed or tested using cell lines connected to abortions. Vatican guidance says vaccination is generally voluntary and that using vaccines tied to aborted-fetal cell lines can be morally acceptable when ethically unproblematic alternatives are unavailable, while also urging the development of alternatives, according to the Vatican.
That guidance leaves room for Catholic families to object in conscience, but it also emphasizes the duty to protect vulnerable people and avoid spreading infectious disease. The Florida bishops’ response will determine whether the state’s Catholic schools revise their policies before classes begin—or continue defending a rule that has been in place for more than a decade.
