In April, 8-year-old Liam Dahlberg of Lowell, Indiana, died from a vaccine-preventable illness—despite being fully vaccinated. His parents, Ashlee and Erik, later learned that Liam likely contracted the disease from someone who was not vaccinated. He had severe asthma and allergies, making him more vulnerable than most children. Within two days of showing symptoms, Liam was gone.

Liam’s story is a heartbreaking reminder that vaccines don’t just protect the individuals who receive them—they protect entire communities. When vaccination rates drop, herd immunity breaks down, and children like Liam are put at risk.

In recent years, Indiana lawmakers have passed a series of laws that weaken public health protections and promote anti-science narratives. These laws allow non-medical exemptions for school vaccine requirements and reduce accountability for employers or institutions that want to encourage immunization. As a result, areas across Indiana now report dangerously low vaccination rates. In Liam’s own county, one in five kindergartners don’t meet vaccine requirements.

Public health experts are clear: such policies are a threat to community safety. When families are allowed to opt out of vaccines for reasons unrelated to medical need, it increases the risk of deadly outbreaks—especially for children who are too young or too sick to be fully protected themselves.

This petition calls on the Indiana General Assembly and Governor Eric Holcomb to repeal the state’s recently enacted anti-vaccine laws and restore science-based protections for public health. These changes are essential to prevent more tragedies like Liam’s.

Liam’s life mattered. His death was not inevitable—it was the result of policy choices that prioritized misinformation over evidence, and individual exemptions over collective safety.

Sign this petition to demand that Indiana lawmakers reverse course. Protect immunocompromised children. Restore vaccine safeguards. Don’t let another child die from a preventable illness.