- A proposal to allow religious exemptions to childhood vaccines passed the West Virginia House of Delegates in a 57-41 vote.
- The exemption is part of a bill that would allow private schools to implement vaccination requirements at their own discretion.
- Dr. Stephen Eschenor said of the bill, “This goes beyond the legitimate reasons for wanting to weaken the Childhood Immunization Act,” and that lawmakers “want to turn back the clock nearly 100 years” when it comes to public health. ” he accused her of thinking.
West Virginia would join 45 other states that allow religious exemptions to childhood vaccines required for school attendance under a bill passed by the House of Representatives on Monday.
Religious exemptions are included in a bill that would let private schools decide whether to implement vaccine mandates. This was added to the bill as an amendment passed on Friday. The entire bill was approved on a 57-41 vote Monday and now heads to the state Senate, where its chances of passage are uncertain. But the Senate needs to act quickly. The 60-day regular session ends on March 9th.
Some medical experts in West Virginia, a state with one of the worst adult health outcomes in the nation, criticized the bill as outdated.
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“Lawmakers want to turn back the clock nearly 100 years and remove some safeguards in vaccination policy,” said Dr. Stephen Eschenor, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department. “This falls short of the legitimate reasons for wanting to weaken the Childhood Immunization Act. Our children are more important than any agenda that would bring these terrible diseases back to the Mountain States.”
The bill’s original purpose was to eliminate vaccination requirements for students in public virtual schools. It was expanded in committee to allow private schools to set their own vaccination standards. Then there’s the religious exemption added in last week’s amendment.
The amendment’s sponsor, Raleigh County Republican Todd Kirby, said the exemption sends a message about existing guarantees of religious freedom. Kirby said her children are fully vaccinated, and that unvaccinated children are now being accepted into schools and childcare facilities, adding that “everyone should know that it’s very important.” “It allows for a sense of camaraderie and social interaction,” he added.
Last year, Kirby co-sponsored a bill that was later signed into law by Republican Gov. Jim Justice. The bill would establish a test for courts to apply to people challenging government regulations that they believe would interfere with their constitutional right to religious freedom. About 24 other states have similar laws.
Seen here is the dome of the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner, File)
Last August, a federal appeals court upheld a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the state’s longstanding religious exemptions from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities. And in Mississippi, a federal judge ruled in April 2023 that the state should grant such an exemption.
Other states that currently do not have religious exemptions to school immunization requirements are California, Maine and New York, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Currently, children entering school for the first time in West Virginia must be vaccinated against nine diseases and infections, including chickenpox, measles, pertussis and tetanus, unless they have a valid medical reason.
Kanawha County Republican JB Akers said he supports religious exemptions, but the bill would let private schools decide vaccination requirements for students, when public school students are currently required to do so. He said he didn’t like what was happening.
“I think it raises potential equal protection issues,” he said in voting against the bill.
Students participating in state-sponsored athletic competitions would be required to be vaccinated and would not be eligible for religious exemptions under the bill.
Kanawha County Democrat Mike Pushkin scolded the House for interfering with the current school vaccine law.
“We have no right to harm others,” Pushkin said. “This bill is harmful.”
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average life expectancy in West Virginia in 2020 was 72.8 years. Only Mississippi State had him lower at 71.9. West Virginia has the highest death rates in the nation from diabetes and heart disease, and has long had the highest drug-related death rates in the nation. It was one of three states with an adult obesity rate of 40% or higher in 2022, according to the CDC.
