West Virginia Judge Rules on Vaccine Exemptions for Religious Beliefs

A judge in West Virginia has determined that parents can cite their religious beliefs to avoid school vaccination mandates for their children. On Wednesday, Judge Michael Froble from the Raleigh County Circuit Court issued a permanent injunction that allows children from families who refuse vaccinations on religious grounds to attend school and engage in extracurricular activities.

Froble concluded that the state’s prohibition on parents seeking religious exemptions was in direct violation of the Equal Religious Protection Act, which was enacted in 2023 under the administration of then-Governor Jim Justice.

Earlier this year, Governor Patrick Morrissey had issued an executive order enabling religious exemptions. At that time, West Virginia had been one of the few states that only allowed medical exemptions for school vaccinations.

The State Board of Education, however, had voted in June to instruct public schools to ignore this executive order and adhere to the existing vaccination requirements mandated by state law. Following Wednesday’s ruling, the commission stated that it will suspend its vaccination mandate while the case is being appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Morrissey remarked that the ruling is “a victory for all families who have been forced to withdraw from school because of their faith.” Meanwhile, two organizations had filed a lawsuit to contest Morrissey’s executive order, claiming that only the Legislature can make such decisions.

A bill proposing religious exemptions had passed the state Senate earlier in the year but ultimately did not get approved by the House of Delegates.

Judge Froble pointed out that the failure of the bill in the Legislature does not negate the implementation of the 2023 law, and he dismissed the argument that only legislative action could establish a religious exemption.

In a case involving several parents, one individual had successfully obtained a religious exemption from the state health department but later received an email from the local school superintendent revoking this exemption. Froble had previously granted a preliminary injunction in July that allowed children from three Raleigh County families to attend school for the current year.

Last month, Froble certified the case as a class action involving 570 families across the state who have also received religious exemptions. He indicated that this class action would extend to any future parents seeking similar exemptions.

Froble commented that the number of exemptions is relatively small in the context of the state’s overall student population and thus “will not significantly reduce vaccination rates or increase health risks.”

Current state law mandates that children receive vaccinations for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus, and pertussis before they can attend school.

Interestingly, there are at least 30 states with similar religious freedom laws, reflecting a framework established by the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993, which allows individuals to contest federal regulations that conflict with their religious beliefs.