of West Virginia State Board of Education The state Supreme Court reinstated the school vaccination policy after blocking a lower court ruling that had allowed parents to refuse vaccines to their children based on religious beliefs.
The state Supreme Court issued the injunction Tuesday following a ruling last week by Raleigh County Circuit Court Judge Michael Froble in a class-action lawsuit. Froble said in the injunction that children whose parents opt out of the state’s vaccination mandate for religious reasons will be allowed to attend school and participate in extracurricular sports.
Mr. Froble’s sentencing was suspended pending resolution of the appeals in the case.
“We are reinstating the directive to county boards of education not to accept religious exemptions to mandatory immunization laws. This directive will remain in effect until the Supreme Court issues further guidance,” the commission said in a statement.
Additionally, the board said its priorities are to ensure compliance with state vaccine laws and “protect the health and well-being of all students across West Virginia.”
The vaccination mandate was suspended by the board last week following Froble’s ruling that the state’s policy barring parents from seeking religious exemptions violated the Equal Religious Protection Act of 2023, passed by then-Republican Gov. Jim Justice.
West Virginia was one of a handful of states with medical-only exemptions for school vaccinations when fellow Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order allowing religious exemptions earlier this year.
But the board voted in June to direct public schools to ignore the governor’s order and follow long-standing practices. Vaccination requirements at school It is outlined in state law.
The two groups had sued to block Morrissey’s order, arguing that the authority to make these decisions rests with the Legislature, not the governor.
A bill allowing religious exemptions was approved by the state Senate earlier this year but died in the House of Delegates.
Froble said in his ruling that failure to pass the bill does not determine the application of the 2023 law. He rejected the defendant’s argument that a religious exemption could only be established by legislative action.
“Legislative intent is not absolute and does not determine the interpretation or application of a statute. At best, it is a factor,” Frobl said.
A group of parents sued the state and local school boards, as well as the Raleigh County superintendent. After obtaining a religious exemption from the state health department’s vaccine mandate and enrolling their child in elementary school this school year, one parent received an email from the local school superintendent in June revoking the certificate, according to the complaint.
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Froble last month certified the case as a class action lawsuit involving 570 families who 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 concern a small portion of the state’s student population and “will not significantly reduce vaccination rates or increase health risks.”
State law requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus, and pertussis before attending school.
At least 30 states religious freedom law. The law is modeled on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1993 and allowing people to challenge federal regulations that interfere with religious beliefs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
