Democratic U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson on Thursday called on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to remove Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo from his job or force his resignation.
The congresswoman's remarks came the same day the state's top medical official and DeSantis announced plans to eliminate vaccine mandates.
“Are we losing our minds? This is getting ridiculous and pathetic," said Wilson, D-Miami Gardens. "Are we trying to kill millions of innocent children?
"Childhood vaccines save lives. Abolishing them is insanity," she said in a statement released by her congressional office.
"As a former teacher and principal, I know how vital childhood vaccinations are," she said. "Ending vaccine mandates puts the whole community at risk of preventable diseases."
"Decades of research show the effectiveness of vaccines, and we cannot just disregard the health of our children," she added.
READ MORE: Florida will work to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates in the state, officials say
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Valrico near Tampa with DeSantis, Ladapo vowed to end vaccine mandates in Florida.
He cast current vaccine requirements in schools and elsewhere as an "immoral" intrusion on people's rights bordering on "slavery," and hampers parents' ability to make health decisions for their children.
"People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions," said Ladapo, who has frequently clashed with the medical establishment. "They don't have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them."
“Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body, what you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God,” Ladapo said. “I don't have that right. Government does not have that right.”
He told reporters that the Florida Department of Health plans to eliminate rules set by his predecessors and request that the Legislature “get rid of the rest of it.”
Speaking at the same news conference, DeSantis said Florida was going to establish a “Make America Healthy Again” advisory committee overseen by First Lady Casey DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jay Collins. It would be modeled after similar initiatives pushed at the federal level by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., long known as a vaccine skeptic.
Florida has immunization requirements for children entering daycare and preschool. Those requirements include vaccinations for such things as diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis, polio, measles-mumps-rubella and chicken pox, according to the Florida Department of Health website.
It also has a series of requirements for children attending kindergarten through 12th grade. Those requirements, for example, include four or five doses of vaccines for diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis, four or five doses for polio and two doses for measles-mumps-rubella, according to the website.
The state also has a process for religious and medical exemptions from the requirements.
DeSantis said a ”broad package” will go to the Legislature. The new committee will review issues such as informed consent, parental rights and an “individual responsibility in medical freedom,” he said.
The committee will include Ladapo, Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris, Department of Children and Families Secretary Taylor Hatch, Department of Elder Affairs Secretary Michelle Branham and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Alexis Lambert.
The Associated Press and The News Service of Florida contributed to this story.
