Vaccines are prepared for students during a pop-up immunization clinic at a school in Louisville, Ky., on Aug. 8, 2024.Mary Conlon/The Associated Press

Earlier this month, the U.S. dramatically altered its childhood vaccine schedule, dropping the number of diseases for which vaccines are recommended to 11 from 17.

Apparently, that was only the beginning.

Last week, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, head of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said all vaccines, including polio and measles, should perhaps be optional.

Meaning no more mandates, no more requirement that children be vaccinated against a host of preventable illnesses before attending daycare or school. (Currently all 50 U.S. states have such mandates; in Canada, only Ontario and New Brunswick do.)

Opinion: Canadian kids will feel the fallout from RFK Jr.’s slashing of routine vaccines

Childhood vaccination is one of the most effective medical interventions in history. At least 154 million lives have been saved over the past 50 years, most of them in children under the age of 5, according to an analysis by the World Health Organization.

So why does Dr. Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist and pastor, want to scrap vaccine mandates? Because, he says, a person’s right to refuse a........

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