Judge rules West Virginia parents can use religious beliefs to opt out of school vaccination requirements

A West Virginia judge ruled Wednesday that parents can use religious beliefs to opt out of school vaccination requirements for their children.

Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble on Wednesday issued a permanent injunction, saying that children from families who oppose the state’s mandatory vaccination law for religious reasons will be allowed to attend school and participate in extracurricular sports.

Froble found that a state policy prohibiting parents from requesting religious exemptions violates the Equal Protection for Religion Act signed into law in 2023 by then-Gov. Jim Justice.

West Virginia was one of a few states that offered only medical exemptions from school vaccines when Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order earlier this year allowing religious exemptions.

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However, the state Board of Education voted in June to instruct public schools to ignore the governor’s order and follow school vaccination requirements long established in state law.

The board said after Wednesday’s ruling that it “hereby suspends the policy on mandatory vaccination requirements” pending an appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Morrisey said in a statement that the ruling “is a victory for all families forced to leave school because of their faith.”

Two groups had sued to stop Morrisey’s order, arguing that the legislature has the authority to make these decisions instead of the governor.

Legislation that would have allowed religious exemptions was approved by the state Senate and rejected by the House of Delegates earlier this year.

The judge ruled that the failure to pass the legislation did not determine the application of the 2023 law. He rejected the defendants’ argument that religious exemptions can only be established by legislative measures.

“Legislative intent is not absolute nor does it control the interpretation of a statute or the determination of its application; at most, it is a factor,” Froble said.

A group of parents had sued the state and local boards of education and the Raleigh County superintendent of schools. One parent had obtained a religious exemption to the state health department’s vaccination mandate and enrolled her child in elementary school for the current school year before receiving an email in June from the local school superintendent rescinding the certificate, according to the lawsuit.

In July, Froble issued a preliminary injunction allowing children of the three plaintiffs’ families in Raleigh County to attend school this year.

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Last month, Froble certified the case as a class-action lawsuit involving 570 families who had received religious exemptions in other parts of the state. He said the class action lawsuit also applies to parents seeking religious exemptions in the future.

Froble said the total number of exemptions so far involved a small portion of the statewide student population and “would not significantly reduce vaccination rates or increase health risks.”

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State law requires that children receive vaccines against chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough before attending school.

At least 30 states have religious freedom laws. The laws are modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was signed into law in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton, allowing for challenges to federal regulations that interfere with religious beliefs.

The News contributed to this report.