May 12, 2004
Vaccination Bill Wilts Under Pressure
Homeschooling families played a major role in defeating a bill that would have undermined parental authority over children's health care. Senate Bill 439 would have forced mandatory vaccinations for mumps, chicken pox, and Hepatitis B on hundreds of unwilling families. The bill also failed to give any recognition to parents' fundamental right to control the health care of their children.
Current West Virginia law does not explicitly allow an exemption from vaccinations for moral or religious objections, but it at least provides a generic "sufficient reason" defense. SB 439 would have removed that defense. It would also have removed a doctor's authority to give exemptions based on medical considerations unless his decision was consistent with "commonly accepted practices." In cases where a doctor's best judgment would differ from the judgment of other doctors, no exemption would be allowed.
But as parents and doctors know, one size does not fit all in medical care. Some families have medical objections to vaccines, while others object on moral or religious grounds. (Some of the vaccines mandated by SB 439 are manufactured using human cell cultures originating in tissue taken from aborted babies—a cause of deep concern to many families.) Thanks to the combined efforts of HSLDA members, Christian Home Educators of West Virginia, pro-life groups, and vaccine freedom advocate John Grindley, this dangerous bill was killed in committee.
We look forward to the day when West Virginians who oppose having their children vaccinated, whether on religious, moral, or medical grounds, will have the clear, strong, statutory protection that parents already have elsewhere.
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