West Virginia Reinstates Religious Exclusion for School Vaccine Exemptions After Latest Court Ruling
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The West Virginia Board of Education reinstated its school vaccination policy after the state Supreme Court stayed a lower court ruling that allowed parents to cite religious beliefs to opt out of vaccines needed for children to attend school.
The state Supreme Court issued a stay Tuesday following Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble’s ruling last week in a class-action lawsuit. Froble said in his court order that children whose parents rejected the state’s vaccination requirement for religious reasons would be allowed to attend school and participate in extracurricular sports.
Froble’s ruling was blocked until appeals in the case are resolved.
The board said in a statement that it “is reinstating its directive to county boards of education not to accept religious exemptions to mandatory vaccination laws. This directive will be in effect until the Supreme Court issues further guidance.”
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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. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Additionally, the board said its priority is to ensure compliance with the state’s vaccine law “and safeguard the health and well-being of all West Virginia students.”
The vaccine mandate was suspended by the board last week after Froble’s ruling, which stated that the state policy prohibiting parents from requesting religious exemptions violated the Equal Protection for Religion Act signed into law in 2023 by then-Republican Gov. Jim Justice.
West Virginia was among a handful of states that offered only medical exemptions from school vaccines when Gov. Patrick Morrisey, also a Republican, issued an executive order earlier this year allowing religious exemptions.
But the board voted in June to instruct public schools to ignore the governor’s order and follow long-standing rules. school immunization requirements described in state law.
Two groups had sued to stop Morrisey’s order, arguing that the legislature, not the governor, has the authority to make these decisions.
The West Virginia Board of Education reinstated its school vaccination policy after the state Supreme Court stayed a lower court ruling. (iStock)
Legislation that would have allowed religious exemptions was approved by the state Senate and rejected by the House of Delegates earlier this year.
Froble said in his ruling 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 sued the state and local boards of education and the Raleigh County superintendent of schools. A parent obtained a religious exemption to the state health department’s vaccination mandate and enrolled his 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.
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A group of parents had sued the state and local boards of education and the Raleigh County superintendent of schools. (iStock)
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.