Jessica Biel denies she's against vaccinations despite meeting with prominent California anti-vaxxer

Actress Jessica Biel has denied she's an anti-vaxxer after meeting with prominent campaigner Robert Kennedy Jr to discuss new laws limiting medical exemptions to mandatory vaccinations in California.

In an Instagram post, the 37-year-old wrote that she is "not against vaccinations", despite meeting with Kennedy over a bill that would make it more difficult for parents to bypass rules requiring children be vaccinated before enrollment in school.

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Biel has been at the centre of controversy over her views on vaccination since it was reported that she has not vaccinated her son with actor and singer Justin Timberlake.

She said: "I support children getting vaccinations and I also support families having the right to make educated medical decisions for their children alongside their physicians."

Biel added: "My dearest friends have a child with a medical condition that warrants an exemption from vaccinations, and should this bill pass, it would greatly affect their family’s ability to care for their child in this state.

"That’s why I spoke to legislators and argued against this bill.

"Not because I don’t believe in vaccinations, but because I believe in giving doctors and the families they treat the ability to decide what’s best for their patients and the ability to provide that treatment."

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According to the Los Angeles Times, 40% of requests for medical exemptions could be denied if the new law was to come into force.

The World Health Organisation has called “vaccine hesitancy” one of the 10 worst health threats facing humanity.

Biel rose to fame in the 1990s when she was cast in the family drama series 7th Heaven and scored her first lead role in the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

She has more recently been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy as a result of her work on USA Network crime show The Sinner.

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Her and Timberlake married in October 2012 and their son, Silas, was born in April 2015.