Latest news with #EqualProtectionforReligionAct
Epoch Times
26-05-2025
- Health
- Epoch Times
Lawsuit Aims to Stop Religious Exemptions From Vaccines in West Virginia
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing West Virginia over its enabling students to receive religious exemptions from vaccines required for school attendance. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey in January Morrisey, a Republican, wrote at the time that forcing West Virginians to vaccinate their children despite religious objections 'substantially burdens the free exercise of religion in violation of the inherent religious liberties guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and West Virginia.' The governor cited how legislators in 2023 approved the Equal Protection for Religion Act, which says in part that no action from the state may 'substantially burden a person's exercise of religion' unless it is essential to 'further a compelling government interest.' The ACLU The Equal Protection for Religion Act does not permit the governor to 'unilaterally suspend acts of the Legislature,' the organization stated. Related Stories 5/1/2025 5/26/2025 'Respondents are continuing to wantonly violate clear state law at the request of the Governor,' it added later. The suit names health officials and agencies as defendants, including the West Virginia Department of Health. It was brought on behalf of two parents in the state who oppose the governor's order. The ACLU is asking the court to order the officials to fully comply with state law and not award any exemptions that conflict with the statute. 'Governors do not rule by decree,' Aubrey Sparks, legal director of the ACLU's West Virginia chapter, The West Virginia Department of Health and Morrisey's office did not respond to requests for comment by publication time. In response to pending lawsuits, the governor earlier in May West Virginia before January was one of just five states that did not give any exemptions for non-medical reasons. West Virginia law requires school students to be vaccinated against chickenpox, Hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus, and whooping cough.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WV school board backs superintendent in vaccine policy debate, urges working with governor
The West Virginia Capitol in Charleston, (West Virginia Legislative Photography) The state school board is taking time to consider how it will move forward with Gov. Patrick Morrisey's executive order to allow religious exemptions to vaccination requirements. Nancy White, West Virginia Board of Education president, said Tuesday that the board wouldn't take action at this time and would reconsider the issue at its next meeting in June. Morrisey issued an executive order mandating that public schools permit religious and philosophical exemptions to the state's strict school immunization rules. He said his executive order must stand despite lawmakers' declining to change the state's school vaccine requirements. The House of Delegates voted 42-56 to kill a bill that would have implemented religious exemptions, and the state's immunization rules remain intact. 'The board supports the state superintendents' attempt to follow compulsory vaccination law and directs her to continue to work with the governor and with our legislative liaison to find resolution to this issue,' White said. Numerous speakers urged board members to support the current vaccination laws during a measles outbreak. No one spoke in favor of religious exemptions to those requirements. Earlier this month, State Schools Superintendent Michele Blatt issued then rescinded a memo directing public schools to follow the state's schools vaccination requirements that only permit medical exemptions under law. Morrisey has no intention of rescinding his executive order. He argues that the state's 'Equal Protection for Religion Act,' which went into law in 2023, gives his executive order legal authority. The questions about authority over vaccine laws come as preschoolers and kindergarten students are registering for the upcoming school year. Some private schools said they won't comply with Morrisey's order. Ohio County Schools hired a lawyer to weigh in on whether the school district should follow the governor's vaccination executive order or the state's current immunization requirements. While appearing on MetroNews Talkline on Thursday, Blatt said there needs to be a statewide policy for vaccinations because a county-by-county basis would be difficult given the high volume of students who transfer during the school year. 'It's important to note that our board of education decided that they're eager to work in collaboration with the governor and with the Legislature, and, you know, a lot of things into consideration, as far as timelines with where we are in the school year,' Blatt said. 'And so most of our schools are wrapping up in the next few weeks. And so they thought it was important to give our executive and legislative branch a time to possibly work out their differences.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WV families are already using religious exemptions allowed under Morrisey order, officials say
Since Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order to allow religious exemptions for vaccines in January, the state has received 186 requests for exemptions. The West Virginia Department of Health said all 186 requests have been approved. (Getty Images) More than 180 religious or philosophical exemptions to the state's school immunization requirements have been requested in the approximately two months since Gov. Patrick Morrisey's executive order, and all of the requests have been approved, health officials say. The West Virginia Department of Health released the number of exemptions approved this week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from West Virginia Watch. The response included the number of requests, but no identifying information about the nature of the requests. Morrisey issued an executive order Jan. 14 directing the state, through the 2023 Equal Protection for Religion Act, to allow religious exemptions to the state's vaccine requirements. The department said 186 exemptions have been made and approved between then and Monday. All states require school children to be vaccinated against a number of infectious diseases, including measles, polio and chicken pox. Until January, West Virginia was among only five that did not allow religious or philosophical exemptions to those requirements. West Virginia state code currently allows only exemptions for children who have a medical reason, such as an allergy or a previous severe reaction to a vaccine. Morrisey's executive order also directed the state health officer, a position that's currently not filled, to come up with rules and legislation to facilitate religious exemptions. The state House of Delegates on Monday rejected Senate Bill 460, a bill Morrisey requested that would have established those religious exemptions in state code. Morrisey said Monday he would not rescind the order, setting up a potential clash between the state's executive and legislative branches. The Department of Health said it would continue to abide by Morrisey's order, despite the Legislature rejecting the bill. The Senate easily passed Senate Bill 460 last month with a vote of 20 to 12. In the House, the Health Committee had pared down the legislation, aiming to change the medical exemption process only. The religious exemptions were added back into the bill on the House floor last week. During an interview with HD Media's Outside the Echo Chamber this week, House Health Committee Chair Evan Worrell, R-Cabell said that Senate Bill 460 is dead, but that lawmakers could continue to have conversations about whether to change the medical exemption process for vaccines. 'I think ultimately some people had a lot of consternation around the religious exemption, that you could just write a letter and you could have that exemption,' Worrell said. 'I personally believe that we should be able to do that, but that's just my vote and that's why we have this debate.' The 186 exemptions represent a minuscule portion of the state's school age population, estimated to be about 250,000. But it's more than three times the 53 medical exemptions requested in 2023, according to a report from the state Department of Health. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WV House Health Committee amends religious, philosophical exemptions out of vaccine bill
The West Virginia House Committee on Health and Human Resources approved a version of Senate Bill 460 that does not include religious or philosophical exemptions to the state's school vaccination laws on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 in Charleston, (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography) A bill that would loosen West Virginia's strict school vaccination requirements is headed for a vote by the full House of Delegates without a key component that Gov. Patrick Morrisey ordered earlier this year — religious and philosophical exemptions to those requirements. The House's Committee on Health and Human Resources on Tuesday approved its own version of Senate Bill 460. The new version of the bill merely amends the process by which families get medical exemptions to the state's school immunization laws. All states require school students to be vaccinated for a number of infectious diseases. West Virginia is currently among five that do not allow religious or philosophical exemptions to those requirements. Health officials have touted the state's strict vaccination laws as preventing outbreaks of diseases including measles. On his second day in office, Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order requiring the state Bureau for Public Health to allow the state's school students to be exempted from vaccination requirements based on their religious beliefs. Morrisey said that the exemption will be implemented through the Equal Protection for Religion Act, a bill signed by former Gov. Jim Justice in 2023. 'I think most West Virginians care very deeply that our citizens have religious beliefs, and we also know that the First Amendment to our Constitution has specific clauses calling for free association,' Morrisey said at the time. As it passed in the Senate last month, the bill would have allowed families who want a religious exemption to a vaccine to submit a written statement to their school or day care administrator saying that the requirements cannot be met because they conflict with the parents' or emancipated child's religious or philosophical beliefs. It would also have loosened the process for families to seek a medical exemption to requirements. Current law requires the medical provider of a family seeking a medical exemption to provide documentation of the medical need for the exemption to the state immunization officer for approval. The new version of the bill would permit a person to obtain a written statement for an exemption for a vaccination requirement from their licensed physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner, if that health care provider determines it is or may be detrimental to the child's health or not appropriate. During prior committee meetings, lawmakers heard testimony from people about the difficulty they had getting a medical exemption approved by the state. According to a report by the state Bureau for Public Health, 53 medical exemption requests were made in 2023. Of those, 19 were denied, nine were given a permanent exemption, 24 were given a temporary exemption and one was listed in an 'other' category. Del. Chris Anders, R-Berkeley, argued that taking out the religious and philosophical exemptions to the vaccine requirements is a violation of the First Amendment to the constitution and conflicts with the Parents Bill of Rights legislation that lawmakers recently approved. 'Forced medical procedures are a hallmark of authoritarian regimes, not a free country,' Anders said. 'Freedom means informed consent, not government mandates. Informed consent is a bedrock principle of medical ethics. Removing these exemptions destroys that standard medical decisions should be made between individuals and their doctor, not not dictated by politicians or on elected bureaucrats. 'We are a free people,' he said. 'We are not subjects of the state. Government does not own our bodies or our children's bodies.' Del. Ian Masters, R-Berkeley, said he would have liked the bill to have been stronger, but it does fix the medical exemption process, which currently 'essentially doesn't exist.' In the past 10 years, he said, 67% of medical exemption requests have been denied or delayed. 'Here we have an opportunity for the doctor actually seeing the child and actually giving the medical advice, boots on the ground, to actually finally have some impact. To at least finally have a medical exemption,' Masters said. 'We don't currently really have one of those right now. While I may want some other type of exemptions, at least with this, we are actually providing a medical exemption. So I would support the amendment as it stands.' Speaking against the bill, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, said the new version is an improvement, but the legislation is still a dangerous bill. 'While my friend from Berkeley stated that there are currently no medical exemptions, I believe there are. That's what we have in the law now — strict medical exemptions,' Pushkin said. 'What I don't believe there are, in reality, are religious or philosophical exemptions. I know of no religion that would want us to put children at risk, none. And while I believe in parental rights. I don't think somebody else's parent has the right to endanger somebody else's child, but that's what you get with these types of decisions.' The committee approved an amendment from Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, that says health care providers who give medical exemptions in good faith are immune from civil liability unless his or her actions were the result of 'gross negligence or willful misconduct.' The committee voted down an amendment from Del. Michael Amos, R-Wayne, that would have required that medical providers issuing a medical exemption be licensed to practice in West Virginia and board certified in pediatrics or family medicine. During a committee hearing about the legislation last month, former state health officer Dr. Matthew Christiansen suggested requiring medical exemptions to come from providers who are licensed to practice in the state. 'Many of the exemptions I received [as state health officer] are from out of state doctors who issue exemptions, oftentimes on a cash basis or by telehealth visit,' Christiansen told the committee. 'I think it's important that those doctors and nurse practitioners and PAs practice in West Virginia with a license.' Those who objected to the amendment said that families in parts of the state that border other states may see physicians in those other states. Amos, a physician, countered by saying that it's common for physicians to be licensed to practice in bordering states and that he himself is licensed in Kentucky and Ohio. Committee members also rejected an amendment from Pushkin that would have reinstated previous language in the bill to require schools and day care facilities to report yearly the number of students enrolled in the school or child care center who have been granted an exemption from vaccination and the percentage of students enrolled in the school who have been granted an exemption. The reporting requirements were included in the bill as requested by Morrisey, but amended out in the Senate. The committee approved an amendment from Del. Sarah Drennen, R-Putnam that requires medical providers who submit medical exemptions report to the state health officer how many children they granted a medical exemption to and where the students reside. The state health officer would report the information yearly to the Legislature's Joint Committee on Health. The bill is next expected to go to the floor of the Senate for a vote. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
