W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia Senators on Friday said he was on the country’s strictest school vaccination policy by greenlighting exemptions for families that require conflict with religious or philosophical beliefs. I voted to dismantle one.
If approved by the House, the bill is expected to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Patrick Morrissey. Allow religious exemptions for vaccines His administration’s priorities.
West Virginia is currently one of our few states that only allow medical exemptions for vaccinations. State policies have long been told by healthcare professionals as the most protective of children.
Supporters of the bill say not allowing exemptions is unconstitutional and interferes with the child’s right to education.
“Education is a fundamental right,” Ohio County bill supporter Republican Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman said on the Senate floor. “We have no business trampling on children’s religious beliefs because of the fundamental right to receive an education.”
Senate Health and Personnel Chapman, Wakim Chapman, held a poster committee depicting five states, including West Virginia, which currently do not allow religious or philosophical exemption vaccination waiver.
“This law is not the crazy thing anti-vaxaxers want,” she said, adding that she believes vaccines are safe and effective in preventing illness. “This raises us in 45 other states.”
The bill allows families to refrain from vaccinating children if there is a religious or philosophical objection and will submit a written statement to their child’s public, private, or religious school.
Also, by allowing children’s healthcare providers to submit testimony to schools that certain vaccines “may be harmful to the child’s health, or may not be appropriate or appropriate.” , modify the process of families seeking medical exemptions. Currently, medical exemptions must be approved by state vaccination officers.
Departure from the precedent
West Virginia previously had the highest vaccination rate in the country. The recent US Disease Control and Prevention Report on kindergarten vaccination exemptions said it has the lowest exemption rate in the state and the highest vaccination rate for children of age.
State law states that children will be allowed to have chicken po, measles, measles, meningitis, meningitis, meningitis, meningitis, meningitis, meningitis, meningitis, meningitis, meningitis, polio, tetanus, and ooping cough before starting school. It requires you to receive a vaccine for this. The state does not require Covid-19 vaccinations.
Last year, former governor and current US Senator Jim Justice Less Sweep Vaccination Law It was passed by a very large Republican Congress that would have exempted students from private schools and several non-traditional public schools from vaccination requirements.
At the time, Justice said it must be postponed to licensed health professionals who have spoken “overwhelmingly” against the legislation.
Morrissey, who previously served as West Virginia’s attorney general, said he believes religious exemptions for vaccinations should already be allowed in West Virginia under a 2023 state law. Equal Religious Protection Law.
The law provides that the government cannot “substantially burden” its constitutional rights to religious freedom unless it can prove that it has a “persuasive interest” that restricts its rights. Masu.
Morrisey said that since the law passed it was “not fully and properly enforced.” He urged Congress to help codify religious vaccination exemptions into the law.
Opposition
Those who opposed the bill said they had a compelling interest in the government requiring vaccines to protect the health of children. Others said the bill is an example of government overreach — especially when writing orders for religious and private schools.
The Wheeling-Charleston Parish has 4,600 students in care, but if given the option in the past, the parish “maintains the constitutional right to order schools that are always considered appropriate.” He says that. Our beliefs, according to a statement from spokesman Tim Bishop this week.
Randolph County Republican Sen. Robbie Morris said he doesn’t think religious people need to act against their faith. In his view, it is happening under current law, as the state does not have religious exemptions.
“The problem is, this bill doesn’t fix that issue. It just switches from one end of the spectrum to the other,” he said. “We are telling private religious schools that vaccinations are the doctrine of their faith and that if you want to request it, you cannot do it. It’s not religious freedom.”
Senators reject some efforts to amend the bill, including one proposal to allow churches and religious groups to continue to request vaccinations if they follow the doctrine of their faith. I did.
The US kindergarten vaccination rate was soaked in 2023, with the percentage of children with exemptions rising to an all-time high. Federal data Posted in October.
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