Democrats in the Minnesota Senate have authored legislation that would end the ability for parents to opt their children out of a state vaccine mandate.
Under Minnesota law, children enrolled in elementary schools, secondary schools, and child care facilities must be vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). However, that mandate does have exceptions.
If a physician signs a statement saying an MMR vaccine should not be administered to a child for medical reasons, then the child can be enrolled without an MMR vaccination.
Additionally, state law allows a parent or guardian to obtain a notarized statement saying the child has not been immunized against MMR because of “the conscientiously held beliefs of the parent or guardian of the minor child.”
That statement is sufficient to opt the child out of the MMR vaccine mandate and is kept on file with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).
This legislative session, a group of Democrats authored a bill to remove the exemption for conscientiously held beliefs. That bill, SF 3439, is authored by DFL Sen. Liz Boldon. DFL Senators Alice Mann, Erin Maye Quade, Rob Kupec and Melissa Wiklund are co-authors.
Last week, Boldon’s bill was heard by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
Presenting her bill, Boldon said SF 3439 is about “safety for our kids” and Minnesota has “very permissive laws on vaccine requirements for educational purposes.” Boldon said the conscientious belief exemption essentially allows parents to opt out “for any reason.”
Boldon said the percentage of Minnesota kindergartners vaccinated for MMR declined from 95% in 2012 to 87% in 2024. She also said Minnesota is fourth-lowest among all 50 states for kindergarten MMR vaccination, and MDH has reported recent measles cases in the state.
Testifying against the bill, Katie Christensen of Minnesotans for Health and Parental Rights said conscientious exemptions “are not a loophole. They recognize that Minnesota is a diverse state where families hold deeply held religious and moral convictions.”
Christensen also said Minnesota’s homeschool statutes use the same immunization law that requires MMR vaccination of other students. As such, she essentially told the committee that SF 3439 would remove conscientious objections for homeschoolers as well.
In emotional testimony before the committee, Jessica Yudchitz said her son almost died from a seizure after he was vaccinated with the Hepatitis A vaccine. Yudchitz said her son’s doctors recommended that he not take another vaccine.
However, Yudchitz explained that doctors would not grant her son a medical exemption “because of fear of retribution for their medical licenses.” She said she has “never met another mother who has been able to get a medical exemption for her child.”
“We are not anti-vaxxers,” she said. “We are members of the vaccine safety movement.”
WATCH: Minnesota mom Jessica Yudchitz testifies against a bill that would revoke the conscientiously held beliefs exemption for the MMR vaccine
“This is my child who almost died from a grand mal seizure after being vaccinated with the Hepatitis A vaccine. My son’s doctors say I… pic.twitter.com/mSQADTVfp8
— Anthony Gockowski (@AntGockowski) March 17, 2026
Another mother, Cathy Lindgren, told the committee that her infant daughter was admitted to the hospital with inflammation of the brain just 36 hours after receiving routine vaccines. Lindgren said her daughter was in the ICU for 16 days but survived.
Lindgren, who is now a registered nurse, said she later obtained her daughter’s medical records from that ICU stay. She said those records contained no mention of her daughter being vaccinated 36 hours prior to the inflammation of the brain.
The majority of last week’s testifiers were opposed to SF 3439. Republican Sen. Paul Utke said his email had been filled with messages opposing the bill.
During the hearing, Republican Sen. Bill Lieske said he had an allergic reaction to a vaccine when he was five years old that prevented him from walking for over a month. Lieske said he went to the doctor for school vaccinations several years later and was told another vaccine was not a good idea because of the previous allergic reaction.
However, Lieske said the doctor refused to sign a medical exemption for “fear of losing their medical license” or problems with the medical board. In short, Lieske explained that the conscientious objection was the only way for him to go to school at the time.
Lieske also noted that he was denied a medical exemption for the COVID vaccine despite his prior allergic reaction.
Ultimately, the committee recommended passage of SF 3439 and advanced it to the Senate Education Policy Committee in a voice vote. The Minnesota Senate, and all its committees, are currently controlled by Democrats.
The voice vote advancing SF 3439 appeared to be a party-line vote with DFLers supporting advancement and Republicans opposing advancement. GOP Senators Jim Abeler, Mark Koran, Lieske, and Utke were among those who spoke critically of the bill.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
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