Jessica Biel: ‘I am Not Against Vaccinations’

By Rebecca Rubin

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Jessica Biel clarified her stance on vaccinations after public outcry over news that the actress joined Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lobby against a California state pro-vaccine bill .

“I am not against vaccinations,” Biel wrote on Instagram Thursday morning. “I support children getting vaccinations and I also support families having the right to make educated medical decisions for their children alongside their physicians.”

Biel said she went to Sacramento to talk to California legislators about a proposed bill, explaining that her “concern” with the SB277 was 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,” Biel said. “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.”

The state bill in question has been criticized by anti-vaccination advocates like Kennedy. If it were to pass, the bill would reduce medical exemptions from vaccines that don’t have approval from state public health officers.