Anti-Science Bills Appear in Mid-West Legislatures

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At the same time public attention was focused on international balloons, anti-science bills were floating over the mid-west of the United States. Questionable legislation has been introduced in both the Montana and Iowa legislatures.

In Montana, Senate bill 235, which was ultimately tabled, would have required schools in Montana to “know the difference between scientific fact and scientific theory.” According to the text of the bill, scientific fact means “an indisputable and repeatable observation of a natural phenomenon.”

The bill insisted that local Montana public school boards only teach scientific fact not “theory” and only include these facts in science curriculum. Starting in 2025, the bill would have given Montana parents the ability to question school board decisions on scientific curriculum and appeal the decisions of the local board.

The bill received strong opposition from both the public and even the Montana Legislative Services Division of the Montana legislature, a nonpartisan branch of the state legislature, which provides legal reviews of legislation. In its review of the bill, the division raised state constitutional questions with the bill.

In the Montana House, state representative Greg Kmetz introduced House bill 645 that would prohibit people who have received COVID-19 vaccines from knowingly donating blood, human tissue, organs or bones. The prohibited technologies include “gene-altering proteins, nanoparticles, high-count spike proteins from long covid-19, or other isolates introduced by mRNA or DNA vaccines, mRNA or DNA chemotherapies, or other novel mRNA or DNA pharmaceutical biotechnologies.” Anyone who knowingly violates the provisions of the bill are subject to a $500 misdemeanor.

During a Montana House Human Services Committee hearing, the “safety and effectiveness” of the COVID vaccine was raised by the sponsor of the bill. Many of the familiar grievances about the COVID vaccine were raised during the hearing as was the protection of the state’s blood supply. The bill was later tabled in committee.

A third bill, House bill 154, in the Idaho House of Representatives, would prohibit a person from providing or administering any vaccine developed using mRNA technology. The bill covers individuals or mammals. Anyone who violates this provision, should it become law, would be guilty of a misdemeanor.

About the Author:


Kevin M. Wilson serves as Director of Public Policy and Media Relations for The American Society for Cell Biology. He's worked as the Legislative Director for U.S. Congressman Robert Weygand (D-RI) and as a Legislative Assistant for U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI). He has a BA in Politics and American Government from the Catholic University of America. Email: kwilson@ascb.org