Morrisey issues guidance for religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Friday issued guidance for how families who object to vaccines on religious and philosophical grounds can receive exemptions to the state's school immunization requirements.
While the state's compulsory school vaccination law has not changed, the governor does not intend to rescind his executive order granting religious and philosophical exemptions, according to a news release Friday.
'I am calling on the State Superintendent of Schools and the county boards of education in this state to work with the Bureau for Public Health to ensure that religious rights of students are protected,' Morrisey said. 'Students will not be denied access to public education because of their religious objections to compulsory vaccination.'
In his letter Friday, Morrisey acknowledged that the state cannot compel private schools to exempt children without a statutory change, but he urged the schools to 'honor the religious beliefs of their students and not turn them away because of their strongly held objections to vaccines.'
West Virginia state law includes one of the strongest school vaccination policies in the nation. All states require children attending school to be vaccinated for a number of infectious diseases, like polio and measles. West Virginia was one of only five states that allowed only medical exemptions to those vaccination requirements.
In a Jan. 14 executive order, Morrisey directed the State Health Officer and the Bureau for Public Health to establish a process for religious exemptions and come up with necessary rules and legislation to facilitate them. West Virginia's last health officer, Dr. Matthew Christiansen, resigned in December. Morrisey has not appointed someone to fill the role.
State lawmakers rejected a bill that would have established religious exemptions in state code. The measure, Senate Bill 460, passed in the Senate but was rejected by the House of Delegates with a vote of 42 yeas and 56 nays.
The disagreement between the state's executive and legislative branch has led to confusion among the state's schools and daycare facilities. Some private schools in particular have said they're not following the executive order.
The Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston — which operates 24 schools throughout the state — will not accept religious exemptions for required school vaccinations despite the executive order, Tim Bishop, communications director for the church, told West Virginia Watch this week.
West Virginia state School Superintendent Michele Blatt put out a memo to county boards of education on May 2 saying that since the state Legislature didn't adopt the bill allowing religious exemptions, students who enroll with an exemption prior to May 1 would be allowed to finish the school year. But, the memo continued, students would not be allowed to enroll in the upcoming school year without the required immunizations. Before the day was over, Blatt rescinded the memo at Morrisey's request and said the school system would work collaboratively with the governor's office to issue guidance to counties about how to comply with the order.
According to the governor's guidance, parents seeking a religious or philosophical exemption to a vaccine should send an email to vaccineexemption@wv.gov with the following information:
Name and date of birth of the student seeking an exemption
Name of the student's parent or guardian
The school the student intends to enroll in
A mailing address for the parent or guardian.
The Bureau for Public Health will mail a letter to the parent telling them whether the exemption has been granted, and a copy of the letter will be sent to the school, Morrisey's letter says. Exemptions will be granted on a per-year basis.
Morrisey told public school officials that when a student receives an exemption, the exemption should be honored by the school the student is enrolled in and the student should be allowed to attend virtual and in-person classes without the vaccination they're exempted from getting.
Morrisey's executive order is based on the Equal Protection for Religion Act, a 2023 law signed by former Gov. Jim Justice. The law prohibits government action that substantially burdens a person's exercise of religion unless it serves a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive way of achieving that interest. In his letter Friday, Morrisey argued that the order takes precedence over state law because the legislature wrote that the EPRA applies 'notwithstanding any other provision of law.'
Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, told West Virginia Watch earlier this week the Legislature has the authority to set the school vaccination policy and the governor does not. Garcia, an attorney by trade, said the matter would likely have to be settled by a lawsuit.
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