Actress Jessica Biel has spoken out after reports emerged showing her appearing at the California State Assembly to oppose a vaccination bill, insisting that she’s not against vaccinations, just the bill, The Daily Beast reported.
Despite her ties to the anti-vaxx community, she wants her angered fans to know she’s not one herself.
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California state bill 276 looks to limit medical exemptions from children being vaccinated.
If passed, the bill would require the state’s Department of Public Health to make the final decision as to whether a medical exemption fits the proper criteria for a child to avoid vaccination.
Anti-vaxxers throughout the state have made their opposition to this bill known, criticizing it for essentially making vaccinations mandatory in California.
On Tuesday, photos emerged showing Biel with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent skeptic of vaccines.
Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, is a well-known anti-vaxxer. He founded the Children’s Health Defense , an anti-vaccination organization will campaigns and petitions for children not to undergo vaccinations.
Biel, 27, traveled to Sacramento to appear alongside Kennedy at the California state house.
Posted to the environmental activist’s Instagram account, photos showed the two posing together and with other activists and legislators, with Kennedy captioning the photos, “Please say thank you to the courageous @jessicabiel for a busy and productive day at the California State House.”
Fans were not happy about Biel’s apparent support for the anti-vaccination movement.
One Instagram user commented on Kennedy’s post and demanded that actors “stay in [their] lanes” when it comes to medical issues.
“Do not continue to profess knowledge derived from ignorance,” they wrote. ” You all need to stick to acting.”
Another chimed in and added, “You are all going to hurt so many people with your reckless self-invented ‘science.’ So disappointed in you @jessicabiel.”
Now Biel has taken to her own Instagram to clarify why she appeared in the pictures after fans voiced their outrage.
In a post featuring a photo of her standing out front of the state house, the actress insisted she is “not against vaccinations” and said she supports children being vaccinated, as well as “families having the right to make educated medical decisions for their children alongside their physicians.”
Instead, her concern is with the bill itself that is being proposed by the state of California.
She wrote about a family friend whose child has a medical condition rendering them exempt from vaccines. Should the bill pass, “it would greatly affect their family’s ability to care for their child”.
Of course, this post didn’t exactly quell her fans’ concerns.
“Cool,” one Instagram user wrote. “If you don’t want to vaccinate feel free to choose home educating as well.”
“If it’s a legit medical exemption your ‘dearest friend’ has nothing to worry about,” another added. “Thanks for adding fuel to an already [dangerous] fire being lit with all the vaccine fear mongering.”
Even Perez Hilton chimed in, saying he’s thankful his son’s school makes vaccinations mandatory: “If you choose not to vaccinate your kids, they can’t go there!”
“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 the treatment.”
At the end of her post, Biel encouraged her followers to read more about the issue and the intricacies of the proposed SB 276 before thanking everyone who met with her while she was at the state house.
Kennedy refused to confirm Biel is officially a part of the anti-vaccination movement.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, he said the actress is “upset about this issue because of its particular cruelty.”
“I would say that she was for safe vaccines and for medical freedom,” he said, and then added, “My body, my choice.”
In 2015, reports began to swirl that Biel and her husband, Justin Timberlake, had no intentions on vaccinating their children.
At the time, a source told In Touch Weekly that Biel “feels that vaccination could cause complications.” However, neither the actress nor her musician husband publicly addressed these rumors.
