Connecticut lawmakers want to guarantee vaccine access amid conflicting guidance from the federal government.

The state would have more power to set its own immunization standards under a bill approved by the Connecticut House of Representatives on Tuesday evening.

The bill also blocks a lawsuit over religious exemptions to school vaccines, leading to fierce protests from Republicans who accused Democrats of "moving the goalposts."

Which shots doctors provide – and which ones insurance will cover – are now in limbo.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal vaccine critic, has moved to overhaul the federal immunization schedule. Kennedy also replaced a key Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel with vaccine skeptics, but a federal judge recently overturned the group’s decisions.

To clear things up, a bill would expand the state Department of Public Health’s authority to set vaccine standards for adults, instead of just children.

“The main goal of this bill is to provide continued access to vaccines for the residents of Connecticut,” DPH commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani testified in March.

Under the bill, Juthani’s recommendations must be based on science and be approved by the Legislature’s Regulation Review Committee, which is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.

“We are not adding any new mandates,” said state Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey (D-Fairfield), co-chair of the Public Health Committee. “This bill does not mandate any new vaccines for adults. It just allows us to set a recommended standard of care for our primary population.”

DPH could also directly purchase vaccines under the legislation.

Despite lawmakers’ reassurances, hundreds of parents protested the proposal at a hearing in March.

“When you hand all the power to one unelected bureaucrat, you don’t protect public health, you weaken checks and balances,” Amber Webster, with Connecticut Residents Against Medical Mandates, told lawmakers.

Republicans worry that the move could be a slippery slope.

“It all needs to be science-based,” said House GOP leader Vin Candelora (R-North Branford). “Democrats like to say that they’re science-based until they don’t agree with it.”

Most of Tuesday’s debate focused on one section buried on Page 14 of the legislation. It would effectively block a lawsuit challenging Connecticut’s school vaccination law.

State lawmakers ended religious exemptions five years ago. Three parents are suing, claiming the policy violates a 1993 religious freedom law.

The bill would amend that law to specify that it does not apply to school vaccines. It would apply to any pending lawsuit.

“The only reason this is happening today is the state of Connecticut is afraid they’re going to lose that litigation case that’s currently in the court system, so they're preemptively moving the goalposts,” said state Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria (R-Seymour).

Democrats said they are only clarifying lawmakers’ intentions when they repealed religious exemptions.

“We’re not forcing anybody to put anything in their body,” Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) told reporters. “But we are saying, if you’re going to go to our public school system and you’re going to go with other kids who might have preexisting conditions which prevent them from getting vaccinations, you have to get vaccinated.”

The bill heads to the state Senate next, where it is expected to pass.

Gov. Ned Lamont proposed the legislation and plans to sign it.