CHARLESTON West Virginia lawmakers have rejected a Senate proposal to allow parents to opt their school-age children out of vaccinations based on certain sincerely-held beliefs.
West Virginia students entering school for the first time are required to have a fully up-to-date immunization record. Vaccinations against Diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, and hepatitis B are all required by law unless the child has certain medical exemptions.
Senate Bill 460 was introduced following a push by Governor Patrick Morrisey to allow religious and philosophical exemptions to those school vaccination requirements. The Senate passed a version of the bill on February twelfth.
West Virginia’s three most recent public health officers – Doctors Matthew Christiansen, Ayne Amjad, and Cathy Slemp – each warned that broader exemptions could increase the risk of outbreaks. In a joint letter to lawmakers last week urging the rejection of Senate Bill 460, they said strict vaccination laws have helped to maintain high immunization rates in the state, and that providing non-medical exemptions would “weaken the hard-earned protections keeping our children, families, and communities safe.”
On Tuesday last week, the House Health Committee approved a version of the bill which struck the religious and philosophical exemptions while building on the medical exemptions. Then on Friday, delegates voted to reinstate the religious exemptions on top of the expanded medical exemptions. After continued debate, the House ultimately rejected the bill altogether in a 42-56 vote Monday afternoon.
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