The Retreat on Vaccines and the Montana Legacy at Stake

Maurice Hilleman's birthplace in Custer County, Montana. Hilleman was educated at Montana State University and went on to develop the vaccines for MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella).

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Montana is now at the center of a dangerous rollback of hard-won public health protections.

As of May 15, 2025, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services began enforcing a new rule requiring all child care centers to accept religious vaccine exemptions, whether they agree or not.

This change, prompted by the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, bypassed direct legislative approval and has left child care providers, parents, and health advocates deeply concerned. At the same time, at the federal level, former President Donald Trump issued an executive order blocking federal funding for schools and universities that require COVID-19 vaccinations. Although no K–12 school currently requires COVID‑19 vaccines, some universities still maintained mandates as of early 2025.

These two policies, one state-level, one national, reflect a growing willingness to politicize public health and sacrifice community safety for short-term ideological wins.

Lifting school vaccine requirements will lower overall vaccination levels, increasing outbreaks and burdening small-town hospitals and clinics

Vaccines save lives. No Montanan knew this better than Maurice Hilleman.

Born in Miles City, Montana in 1919, Hilleman was one of the most influential scientists in modern history. He developed more than 40 vaccines, including eight of the 14 routinely recommended childhood immunizations: measles, mumps, hepatitis A and B, and more.

“In Montana, things get done,” said Hilleman. “You put up a barn, a fence, a gate. These were project events. Then everybody would go out, get a fresh bucket of water, sit on a log and pass around a cup to celebrate. It’s the same feeling you have when you get a vaccine licensed.”

Before Hilleman developed the measles vaccine in the 1960s, more than 500 Americans died each year from the disease and thousands more suffered lifelong complications. Thanks to Hilleman and the modern global expansion of childhood immunization, measles deaths worldwide dropped by 73% between 2000 and 2018.

Hilleman’s Montana roots remind us that science, compassion, and public responsibility can come from anywhere, even a small town on the prairie.

Montana's policies are moving in the opposite direction.

More than 123,000 Montana children rely on Healthy Montana Kids (HMK) for healthcare coverage. Now, those same children could be placed at greater risk of exposure to vaccine-preventable diseases like measles or pertussis due to politics, not science.

How will limiting vaccines improve health outcomes for our kids? It won't.

As of mid‑June 2025, the U.S. has reported 1,168 measles cases across 34 jurisdictions, including 20 in Montana. This marks the second‑highest annual count in 25 years, with 11% of cases requiring hospitalization and several child deaths.

Measles is extremely contagious. It infects up to 90% of non-immune individuals, and public health experts warn it requires over 95% vaccination coverage to prevent outbreaks.

Nationally, only 40% of Americans now say they strongly believe in the importance of childhood vaccines, a steep decline from 64% in 2001. At a moment when trust is fragile, the role of government should be to reinforce public health, not undermine it.

Trump's executive order and Montana's new exemption mandate will almost certainly lower vaccination rates, increase outbreaks, and place more strain on already overburdened rural health systems.

The burden will fall hardest on small-town clinics, public schools, and working families who don’t have the luxury of opting out.

If Maurice Hilleman were alive today, he would not celebrate this trend. He would warn us. He would remind us that vaccines are about protecting children, extending life, and preventing pain that is entirely avoidable.

Montanans are right to be proud of our role in public health history but we have to live up to that legacy. Weakening vaccine policies in child care centers and threatening schools for following sound medical guidance is a betrayal of science that saves millions of lives.

We owe it to Maurice Hilleman, to public health workers, and to every parent who just wants to keep their child safe: reverse course. Tell our leaders in Washington and Helena to stand up for reason, science, and the simple moral truth that our children deserve better.

Call Senator Daines. Tell him: Defend sound science in Montana. Protect our kids. Protect our public health legacy. Fight for us.

Billings – (406) 245-6822

Bozeman – (406) 587-3446

Great Falls – (406) 453-0148

Helena – (406) 443-3189

Kalispell – (406) 257-3765

Missoula – (406) 549-8198

Sidney – (406) 482-9010