Hollywood Parents React to California’s Strict New Vaccine Law

Jennifer O'Neill
·Writer
Updated

Actor Jim Carrey (above in 2008) is leading the protest against the new law California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Tuesday requiring that nearly all students in California be vaccinated regardless of parents’ religious or personal beliefs. (Photo: Getty Images).

On Tuesday, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a controversial mandatory vaccine bill, striking the state’s exemption for immunization based on religious of personal beliefs. And immediately after, the protests that had been going on at the Capitol continued on social media, most notably among vocal critics in Hollywood, particularly Jim Carrey.

STORY: Why One Anti-Vaccine Mom Changed Her Mind

The new law in California — rocked with a measles outbreak in December that infected 131 people — has the state joining two others, Mississippi and Virginia, with the strictest school vaccination laws in the nation. It requires that nearly all public school students, private school students, and children in daycare be vaccinated — when they enroll in school, or before a vaccination checkup during seventh grade— starting with the 2016–2017 school year. (Exemptions are still allowed medical reasons, due to a child’s health issues, or for kids being homeschooled).

STORY: Family’s Anguish After Exposing 1,000 People to Measles

“The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases,” Brown noted in his signing statement to Senate Bill 277. “While it’s true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community.”

The news sent Carrey (who dated anti-vaccine crusader Jenny McCarthy for five years until 2010) into a scathing Twitter rant, blasting the governor as a “corporate fascist” and the pro-vaccine Centers for Disease Control “corrupt” in a series of tweets. The highlights:

Meanwhile, McCarthy herself remained surprisingly silent as of press time, as did the multitude of celebrity supporters of vaccination, including typically outspoken Kristen Bell. The mother of two has said, “I thought, oh well, I’m probably not going to vaccinate because we don’t need it, those diseases don’t exist. [But] in the research I did, I found that there is actually a really big reason why we all need to. Which shocked me.” She insisted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter: “I believe in trusting doctors, not know-it-alls."

Ditto Sarah Michelle Gellar, who has spoken out in support of vaccination as well. “Having children is the greatest gift anyone’s ever given me,” she’s said. “And if I can help protect anyone else’s gift, then it’s not just my pleasure, but it’s my responsibility to do it.” Actress Amanda Peet even fired off in 2008 that, “Frankly, I feel that parents who don’t vaccinate their children are parasites.”

But the social media responses to Brown’s bill signing Tuesday remain dominated by celebrities like Carrey, who are in opposition to the law — including mother of two Jenna Elfman, mom of one Selma Blair, mother of two Kirstie Alley, and father of one Danny Masterson. Check out their remarks and let us know what you think.