West Virginia reinstates school vaccination policy prohibiting religious exemptions
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The West Virginia Board of Education reinstated its school vaccination policy after the state Supreme Court paused a lower court decision that allowed parents to cite religious beliefs to withhold vaccinations required for children to attend school.
The state Supreme Court granted the stay Tuesday following Raleigh County District Judge Michael Froble’s decision last week in the class-action lawsuit. Froble said in the injunction that children whose parents reject the state’s vaccination mandate on religious grounds would be allowed to attend school and participate in extracurricular sports activities.
Froble’s decision was blocked pending appeal decisions in the case.
The board said in a statement that it “reinstates its directive to county boards of education not to accept religious exemptions in mandatory vaccination laws. This directive will remain in effect until the Supreme Court issues further guidance.”
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West Virginia was one of a handful of states that offered only medical exemptions from school vaccinations when Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order allowing religious exemptions earlier this year. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Additionally, the board said its priority is to ensure compliance with state vaccine law and “protect the health and well-being of all students in West Virginia.”
The vaccine mandate was suspended by the board last week after Froble ruled that the state policy banning parents from seeking 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 vaccinations when Gov. Patrick Morrisey, also a Republican, issued an executive order allowing religious exemptions earlier this year.
But the board voted in June to instruct public schools to ignore the governor’s order and follow long-standing practices. school vaccination requirements specified in state law.
Two groups had filed a lawsuit to halt 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 vaccine policy after the state Supreme Court paused the lower court’s decision. (iStock)
Legislation allowing religious exemptions was approved by the state Senate and rejected by the House of Representatives earlier this year.
In his decision, Froble said the failure to pass the law does not determine the implementation of the 2023 law. He rejected the defendants’ argument that religious exemptions could only be achieved through legislative action.
“Legislative intent is not absolute or controlling in determining the interpretation or application of a statute; it is at most a factor,” Froble said.
A group of parents sued state and local boards of education and the Raleigh County school superintendent. A parent obtained a religious exemption from the vaccine requirement from the state health department and enrolled her child in elementary school for the current school year before receiving an email from the local school superintendent in June revoking the certification, according to the lawsuit.
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A group of parents sued state and local boards of education and the Raleigh County school superintendent. (iStock)
Last month, Froble certified the case as a class action involving 570 families who benefit from religious exemptions in other parts of the state. He said the class action also applies to parents seeking religious exemptions in the future.
Froble said the total number of exemptions so far covers a small portion of the statewide student population and “will not meaningfully reduce vaccination rates or increase health risks.”
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State law requires children to be vaccinated against chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough before going to school.
Available in at least 30 states religious freedom laws. The laws were inspired by the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1993, which allowed challenges to federal regulations that interfere with religious beliefs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
