Jessica Biel Joins the Anti-Vaxx Debate to Lobby Against a California Vaccination Bill

Updated 6/13/19, 9:30 a.m.:

Jessica Biel posted on Instagram Thursday morning to clarify her stance on vaccinations:

"This week I went to Sacramento to talk to legislators in California about a proposed bill. I am not against vaccinations—I support children getting vaccinations, and I also support families having the right to make educated medical decisions for their children alongside their physicians," she said. "My concern with #SB277 is solely regarding medical exemptions. My dearest friends have a child with a medical condition that warrants an exemption from vaccinations, and should this bill pass, it would greatly affect their family’s ability to care for their child in this state.

"That’s why I spoke to legislators and argued against this bill. Not because I don’t believe in vaccinations, but because I believe in giving doctors and the families they treat the ability to decide what’s best for their patients and the ability to provide that treatment. I encourage everyone to read more on this issue and to learn about the intricacies of #SB277. Thank you to everyone who met with me this week to engage in this important discussion!"

Original story:

Actress Jessica Biel is being called an anti-vaxxer after appearing with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to oppose a California vaccination bill that limits medical exemptions. In recent years Kennedy has been outspoken about vaccinations, putting forth the (scientifically disproven) claims that vaccines can cause autism, among other problems. “They can put anything they want in that vaccine and they have no accountability for it,” he said in 2015. “They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a 103, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone…. This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country.” (Kennedy later apologized for the "holocaust" remark. Several members of the Kennedy family—including former lieutenant governor of Maryland Kathleen Kennedy Townsend; Joseph P. Kennedy II, a former member of Congress from Massachusetts; and Maeve Kennedy McKean, the executive director of Global Health Initiatives at Georgetown University—have spoken out against Robert Kennedy's vaccine position.)

On Wednesday (June 12), Kennedy, founder of the Children's Health Defense anti-vaccination group, posted photos of himself with Biel at the California State House. "Please say thank you to the courageous @jessicabiel for a busy and productive day at the California State House," he wrote on Instagram.

Jezebel was the first to call attention to the post, and later The Daily Beast spoke to Kennedy, who confirmed that the two were in Sacramento to lobby against SB 276, a bill that would limit medical exemptions from vaccinations without approval from a state public health officer. Basically, this bill would make it harder to get an exception that would allow a parent not to vaccinate their child by increasing oversight by medical professionals.

Choosing not to vaccinate is a public health issue. Unvaccinated individuals can put other people at risk of getting life-threatening diseases—experts point to the anti-vaxx movement as the cause of the recent measles outbreaks that have now affected 28 states and more than 1,000 individuals.

Kennedy, speaking to The Daily Beast, would not call Biel an anti-vaxxer directly. “I would say that she was for safe vaccines and for medical freedom,” he said. “My body, my choice.” “The biggest problem with the bill," he continued, "which is something I think Jessica is concerned with, is that a doctor who has made a determination—if he has found children in this state whose doctors have determined that they’re too fragile to receive vaccinations—this bill would overrule the doctors and force them to be vaccinated anyway.”

“[Biel] was a very effective advocate," he added. "She was very strong and very knowledgeable. Extremely well-informed. An extremely effective advocate. She knows what she’s talking about… She’s upset about this issue because of its particular cruelty. She has friends who have been vaccine-injured who would be forced to leave the state.”

Biel, who shares a son with husband Justin Timberlake, was previously rumored to be against vaccinations by In Touch Weekly in 2015, but had not spoken publicly about the issue.

Numerous scientific studies disprove anti-vaxxer claims that link vaccines to autism, but that has not stopped the anti-vaxxer movement from growing, and there is currently a rise in outbreaks of preventable diseases like measles in the United States.

Response to Biel's stance on social media was strong and swift.

Biel has yet to comment further.

Originally Appeared on Glamour