
Political polarization in the United States has created bitter divides over all kinds of public health measures — ranging from abortion rights to COVID-19 protections. Yet in Idaho, a deep-red state in which Donald Trump carried 63.8% of the popular vote in the 2020 election, Republican legislators are taking their conspiratorial beliefs regarding COVID-19 a step further by attempting to criminalize mRNA vaccines.
Indeed, last week two Republican lawmakers in Idaho introduced House Bill 154 proposing that "providing" or "administering" mRNA vaccines should be criminalized. Specifically, doing so would be a misdemeanor.