West Virginia Reinstates School Vaccination Requirement Amid Ongoing Legal Dispute

Post by : Mina Rahman

The West Virginia Board of Education has chosen to reinstate its mandate for school vaccinations after the state Supreme Court issued a pause on a lower court ruling that permitted parents to claim religious exemptions for vaccines necessary for school participation.

Recently, Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble ruled in a class-action lawsuit that children from families contesting the state’s compulsory vaccination law on religious grounds could attend school and partake in extracurricular activities. This ruling applied not only to parents who had already secured exemptions but also to those looking to obtain them in the future.

Nevertheless, with the issuance of a stay on Froble’s ruling by the state Supreme Court, its implementation has been paused while appeals are underway. Consequently, the Board of Education stated that it is “reinstating its directive to county boards of education not to accept religious exemptions to compulsory vaccination laws,” effective until further instructions are provided by the Supreme Court. The board reaffirmed its commitment to enforcing the vaccine law and ensuring student health throughout the state.

Previously, the board had halted the vaccine mandate following Judge Froble’s ruling, which referenced the Equal Protection for Religion Act enacted in 2023—permitting families to seek religious exemptions under specific circumstances.

West Virginia was among the few states allowing only medical exemptions for school vaccinations. Earlier this year, Governor Patrick Morrisey implemented an executive order enabling religious exemptions, but the board instructed schools to ignore this directive, resulting in lawsuits from groups asserting that legislative authority lies with the state legislature, not the governor, to enact such exemptions.

Judge Froble classified the lawsuit as a class action, thereby covering 570 families who received religious exemptions and including parents seeking future exemptions. One plaintiff, Miranda Guzman, had secured a religious exemption for her child, which was later rescinded by a local school superintendent.

West Virginia’s vaccination standards, deemed among the most stringent in the U.S., require immunizations for diseases such as chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus, and whooping cough prior to school enrollment.

This case underscores the ongoing national discussion regarding religious exemptions to vaccination mandates, with approximately 30 states maintaining religious freedom laws reflective of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which provides avenues to challenge regulations that infringe on religious beliefs.