SB460 HFA White 3-20 #1

Casto 3264

Delegate White, Ridenour and Butler moved to amend the Health Committee Amendment on page 3, section 4, line 57, by striking out the remainder of the Committee Amendment and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

(f) A child shall be exempt from the mandatory vaccination requirements of this section as to a specific immunization for any period of time as to which a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner provides a written statement to the administrator of the child’s school or to the operator of the state-regulated child care center that specific immunizations are or may be detrimental to the child’s health or are not appropriate.

(1) A licensing board shall not take any disciplinary action against a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner who provides a written statement as set forth in subsection (g) of this section; and

(2) A physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner who provides a written statement as set forth in subsection (g) of this section shall not otherwise be subject to any penalty administrative or criminal in nature related to the letter issued in subsection (g) of this section.  

(g) A child shall be exempt from the mandatory vaccination requirements of this section if a parent, a guardian of the child, or an emancipated child presents a written statement to the administrator of the child’s school or to the operator of the state-regulated child care center to the effect that the mandatory vaccination requirements of this section cannot be met because it conflicts with the religious or philosophical beliefs of the parents, legal guardians, or emancipated child.

(h) No school or state-regulated child care center shall prohibit an individual exercising an exemption pursuant to this section from participating in extracurricular activities or from attending school-based events.

(i) In the event that a school or state-regulated child care center takes any adverse action against a party that is seeking or is granted an exemption pursuant to this section, the party that is seeking or is granted an exemption may in a civil action recover from the offending school or state-regulated child care center such damages as may be appropriate including, but not limited to, compensatory and punitive damages and equitable relief.

(j) The Equal Protection for Religion Act of 2023, codified in §35-1A-1 of this code (2023) mandates that “no state action may…[s]ubstantially burden a person’s exercise of religion unless” it “is essential to further a compelling governmental interest” and “is the least restrictive means of” achieving that interest. A number of citizens have religious and moral objections to one or more of the vaccines on the compulsory immunization list contained in this section.  Compulsory immunization forces those West Virginians to choose between their religious belief and their children’s fundamental right to a public education. Forcing West Virginians to vaccinate their children despite their religious and moral objections substantially burdens the free exercise of religion in violation of the Constitutions of the United States and West Virginia and, further, is against the public health policy of this state.

Adopted

Rejected