Dear Senate President McColley, Speaker Huffman and House and Senate Members,

Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom is asking House and Senate members to call for the immediate repeal of ORC Section 3701.13 Department of Health – Powers (B)(4). This section, which is supposed to “encourage vaccination,” is instead being abused by the Department of Health to implement state-sanctioned segregation of healthy Ohio children and the coercion and punishment of parents who lawfully exercise their right to vaccine exemptions for school attendance.

School districts and parents across Trumbull, Ashtabula, and Geauga County have received letters from Health Director Vanderhoff, who issued an ORDER on 2/4/26 citing authority under Section 3701.13 to order healthy unvaccinated children to be excluded from school and all school and sports activities for 21–25 days for ANY 1 reported measles or rubella, and for any 3 reported cases of chickenpox or mumps at the school, regardless of whether the child was exposed. This 21–25 day exclusion RE-STARTS EVERY TIME another case is reported!

Health Director Vanderhoff is setting school EXCLUSION policy for timeframes and infections that are NOT listed in ORC to exclude totally healthy unvaccinated children from school and activities, as a COERCION tactic to BULLY parents into submitting to vaccination against their conscience out of desperation.

“Being fully vaccinated allows your child to remain in the school setting in the unfortunate event of an outbreak.”

From the September 1, 2026 letter to parents sent by Trumbull County school districts under the ODH order

Vanderhoff knows exactly what he is doing. The average Ohio parent can NOT manage having their child doing school from home remotely for WEEKS to MONTHS. How many students will lose out on sports or other college scholarships because they were obstructed from sports and in-person learning? Did we not learn our lesson during COVID as to the level of damage this caused our children in the name of “public health”?

Not only is Vanderhoff’s order a tyrannical infringement on the right of conscience and religious freedom, it is also devoid of scientific merit.

According to a 2007 study from the CDC, there is waning immunity after two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. This study showed that 35% of VACCINATED 7-year-olds, 60% of VACCINATED 15-year-olds, and OVER 60% of VACCINATED adults are able to carry and SPREAD MEASLES WITHOUT signs of infection. Unless the state plans to force vaccinate every man, woman, and child in Ohio with MMR every 5 years, then “herd immunity” to measles is nothing but a scientific fairytale.

It is absurd to discriminate against healthy unvaccinated children when more than 60% of the teachers are able to carry and spread measles to students. If Health Director Vanderhoff’s concern was preventing transmission of measles then he would require the schools to shut down for the duration of an outbreak rather than just excluding healthy unvaccinated children as a punishment for their parents’ choices. For the last 7 years OAMF has made this legislative body aware of these discriminatory practices, and has attempted to pass legislation to correct this injustice… yet nothing has been done. HB 561, our Parental CHOICE Act, would ensure this discrimination no longer occurs, but it too is being held up in committee by Speaker Huffman. The Ohio legislature needs to quickly decide whether or not Ohio is going to be a state that continues to allow the segregation and discrimination of healthy children and the coercion and punishment of their parents for exercising their right of conscience.

If Sec. 3701.13 (B)(4) cannot be repealed prior to session resuming in Nov., then we expect House and Senate Republicans to call on Director Vanderhoff to IMMEDIATELY rescind every part of his order that references school or activity exclusion BEYOND what is allowed under current law Sec. 3313.671 (C). This section ONLY allows exclusion for “chickenpox,” ONLY for a “chicken pox epidemic,” which is defined as “the occurrence of cases of chicken pox in numbers greater than expected in the school’s population or for a particular period of time.” There is NOTHING in state law allowing exclusion of HEALTHY unvaccinated children for Measles, Mumps, or Rubella. If Vanderhoff refuses to reverse these exclusion requirements then we are asking the House and Senate Republican caucus to send a letter to Governor DeWine asking that Health Director Vanderhoff be removed and replaced immediately by someone who will respect the right of conscience for Ohio parents and protect children from discrimination and segregation.

If immediate action is not taken to give relief to these families who are about to have their children excluded from school, we will help these families organize a class action lawsuit against the Ohio Department of Health for discrimination against Ohio parents for exercising their right of conscience under Ohio law.

Also included in Vanderhoff’s “Approved Means of Immunization” 2/4/26 document, he has set a dangerous requirement for parents to RE-VACCINATE their child if ANY DOSE they received did not occur within 4 DAYS before the “minimum age requirement” and labels 5-day-late doses “INVALID.” This requirement puts children at serious risk of vaccine injury due to over-vaccination and places extreme time-constraint burdens on parents. This tyrannical, unfounded requirement is another grave abuse of power on behalf of the Health Director and it demands immediate attention, reprimand, and REPEAL of the order by the legislature.

As Representatives of the people of this state it is your duty to TAKE ACTION to PROTECT the rights of citizens and the right of children to access a public education free of discrimination and segregation. OAMF is asking for a prompt response on what action Republican leadership will take to ensure that the 5.7% of children around the state utilizing vaccine exemptions are not denied access to education and sports opportunities because of unbridled government overreach by the Ohio Department of Health.

Respectfully,
Stephanie Stock
President, Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom

NOTE: a Feb. 2026 national poll conducted by Zogby Strategies shows 66.7% of parents with children under 17 believe they should be able to opt children OUT of school vaccine mandates. Party breakdown was 37% Republican, 36% Democrat, and 27% Independent.