West Virginia, where many families live in rural poverty often far from health care providers, nevertheless has some of the country’s highest vaccine rates for school-age children. Unlike nearly all other states, West Virginia grants exemptions only for medical reasons. The state’s school vaccination law was enacted almost 90 years ago and, despite legislative efforts to change it, remains intact.
West Virginia also has a long libertarian tradition, reflected in the state motto — “Mountaineers Are Always Free” — and a deep strain of social conservatism. Once a Democratic bastion, West Virginia has rocketed to the right over the last 15 years: President Trump twice won it by a margin of more than 40 percentage points.
On few issues do individual liberty and communal obligation flare into direct tension as sharply as they do with compulsory vaccination laws. Across the country, those clashes are becoming more frequent as mandates are rolled back or loosened by Republican lawmakers and officials, often in the name of religious freedom. And just as public health experts have predicted, outbreaks of childhood diseases like measles have risen to rates not seen in decades.
In West Virginia, the conflict over vaccine mandates for children has come to a head in Raleigh County, where lawyers have been battling over the state’s school vaccine mandate. The lawsuits in the county are among several filed around the state since.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order in January directing the state health authorities to grant religious exemptions from the school vaccine mandate. Mr. Morrisey, a Republican in his first year as governor, cited a 2023 state law that provides people with a basis for challenging government actions they believe interfere with their religious beliefs.
But the governor’s order contradicts the school vaccine law, which does not allow for religious exemptions. So the state school board, which has a degree of autonomy under the West Virginia Constitution, has directed county school boards not to accept religious exemptions.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post West Virginia’s School Vaccination Law Has Been Effective. That May Change. appeared first on New York Times.
