California lawmakers are introducing legislation to end a parental right to exempt their children from school vaccinations based on personal beliefs. An outbreak of measles in California has infected more than 100 people. Health officials have linked many of them to an outbreak when an infected person from outside the country visited Disneyland in late December. The measure would make California the 33rd state to bar parents from opting out of vaccinations based on personal beliefs.
All 50 states have legislation requiring specified vaccines for students. Although exemptions vary from state to state, all school immunization laws grant exemptions to children for medical reasons. Almost all states grant religious exemptions for people who have religious beliefs against immunizations. Twenty states allow philosophical exemptions for those who object to immunizations because of personal, moral or other beliefs.
| State | Statute | Religious Exemption | Philosophical Exemption |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Ala. Code _ 16-30-3 | Yes | No |
| Alaska | Ak. Stat. _14.30.125 | Yes | No |
| Arizona | Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. _ 15-872, 873 | Yes | Yes |
| Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. _ 6-18-702 | Yes | Yes |
| California | Cal. Health & Safety Code _ 120325 et seq. | Yes | Yes |
| Colorado | Colo. Rev. Stat. _ 25-4-902, 903 | Yes | Yes |
| Connecticut | Conn. Gen. Stat. _ 10-204a | Yes | No |
| Delaware | Del. Code Ann. tit. 14 _ 131 | Yes | No |
| Washington, DC | D.C. Code Ann. _ 38-501, 506 | Yes | No |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. Ann. _ 1003.22 | Yes | No |
| Georgia | Ga. Code Ann. _ 20-2-771 | Yes | No |
| Hawaii | Haw. Rev. Stat. _ 302A-1154,1156 | Yes | No |
| Idaho | Idaho Code _ 39-4801, 4802 | Yes | Yes |
| Illinois | 105 Ill. Comp. Stat. _ 5/27-8.1 | Yes | No |
| Indiana | Ind. Code Ann. _ 21-40-5 | Yes | No |
| Iowa | Iowa Code Ann. _ 139A.8 | Yes | No |
| Kansas | Kan. Stat. Ann. _ 72-5209 | Yes | No |
| Kentucky | Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. _ 214.034 | Yes | No |
| Louisiana | La. Rev. Stat. Ann. _ 17:170(A);40:31.16 | Yes | Yes |
| Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 20-A _ 6355 | Yes | Yes |
| Maryland | Md. Code Ann. Educ. _ 7-403 | Yes | No |
| Massachusetts | Mass. Gen Laws ch.76, _ 15 | Yes | No |
| Michigan | Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. _ 333.9208, 9215 | Yes | Yes |
| Minnesota | Minn. Stat. Ann. _ 121A-15 | Yes | Yes |
| Mississippi | Miss. Code Ann. _ 41-23-37 | No | No |
| Missouri | Mo. Rev. Stat. _ 167.181,210.003 | Yes | Yes* |
| Montana | Mont. Code Ann. _ 20-5-403, 405 | Yes | No |
| Nebraska | Neb. Rev. Stat. Ann. _ 79-217,221 | Yes | No |
| Nevada | Nev. Rev. Stat. _ 392.435, 437, 439 | Yes | No |
| New Hampshire | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. _ 141-C:20-a, 20-c | Yes | No |
| New Jersey | N.J. Stat. Ann. _ 26:1A-9, 9.1 | Yes | No |
| New Mexico | N.M. Stat. Ann. _ 24-5-1, 3 | Yes | No |
| New York | N.Y. Pub. Health Law _ 2164 | Yes | No |
| North Carolina | N.C. Gen. Stat. _ 130A-155,156, 157 | Yes | No |
| North Dakota | N.D. Cent. Code _ 23-07-17.1 | Yes | Yes |
| Ohio | Ohio Rev. Code Ann. _ 3313.671 | Yes | Yes |
| Oklahoma | Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 70, _ 1210.191, 192 | Yes | Yes |
| Oregon | Or. Rev. Stat. _ 433.267 | Yes | Yes |
| Pennsylvania | 28 Pa. Code _ 23-83, 84 | Yes | Yes |
| Rhode Island | R.I. Gen. Laws _ 16-38-2 | Yes | No |
| South Carolina | S.C. Code Ann. _ 44-29-180 | Yes | No |
| South Dakota | S.D. Codified Laws _ 13-28-7.1 | Yes | No |
| Tennessee | Tenn. Code Ann. _ 49-6-5001 | Yes | No |
| Texas | Tex. Edu Code Ann. _ 38.001 | Yes | Yes |
| Utah | Utah Code Ann. _ 53A-11-301, 302 | Yes | Yes |
| Vermont | Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, _ 1121,1122 | Yes | Yes |
| Virginia | Va. Code Ann. _ 22.1-271.2, _ 32.1-46 | Yes | No |
| Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. _ 28A.210.080, 90 | Yes | Yes |
| West Virginia | W. Va. Code _ 16-3-4 | No | No |
| Wisconsin | Wis. Stat. Ann. _ 252.04 | Yes | Yes |
| Wyoming | Wyo. Stat. Ann. _ 21-4-309 | Yes | No |
A small minority of parents to refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated because they feel the vaccinations are dangerous.
A daycare center at a high school in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica closed earlier this week and more than a dozen infants placed under a three-week quarantine after a baby enrolled in the program was diagnosed with measles.
Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 after decades of intensive childhood vaccine efforts. But last year the nation had its highest number of measles cases in two decades.
Most people recover from measles within a few weeks, although it can be fatal in some cases.
Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers
