New Jersey Assembly passes bill to bar religious exemption for vaccinations
But legislation drafted amid spike in measles infections stalls in Senate amid vocal opposition from public, chanting ‘We do not consent,’ and ‘In God we trust’
TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) — New Jersey’s Assembly on Monday passed a measure to eliminate religious exemptions for vaccines for schoolchildren, but the bill stalled in the state Senate as opponents shouted so loudly they drowned out the session.
The Democrat-led Assembly passed the bill 45-25, with six abstentions, while the Democrat-controlled Senate had also scheduled a vote. The Senate has gone into recess amid loud chants from opponents who shouted “We do not consent,” and “In God we trust.”
It’s unclear why the bill has stalled in the state Senate, but the opponents — including a number of young children — crowded the courtyard outside the chamber to chant opposition slogans.
If signed into law, the measure would end religious exemptions to required immunizations for public and private school children as well as for child care centers.
NJ Senate voting to eliminating religious exemption from all vaccinations, no choice https://t.co/7a4B2jPfuv
— Mimi Vassilev-Baker (@mimibaker) December 16, 2019
If approved the bill would go to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk. His office declined to say what he would do with the bill.
New Jersey would join a handful of states, including New York and California, in doing away with the religious exemption, if the bill becomes law.
Every state requires some vaccines for students, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, but exemptions differ from state to state. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia allow for religious exemptions to immunizations, according to the conference.
The New Jersey bill gained traction this year, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says has seen the greatest number of measles cases reported since 1992.
More than 1,200 cases of measles have been confirmed in 30 states this year with more than three-quarters of them linked to outbreaks in New York and New York City, the Centers for Disease Control reported.
The city saw 654 cases of measles – the most in 30 years – since an outbreak mostly concentrated in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn began in October 2018, officials said. That prompted an emergency order mandating that nearly everyone in those neighborhoods get vaccinated or face possible fines.
Officials there declared the emergency over in September, 2019.
The measure preserves exemptions in cases where doctors can cite medical reasons to forgo vaccines.
Opponents argue that the measure infringes on their rights as parents to decide what’s best for their children.
Lawmakers say the bill is necessary to keep children safe and have criticized “misinformation and hysteria swirling” around the bill.
“There is no exemption for drunk driving or wearing a seat belt, there should not be an exemption from a patently safe vaccine that, if not taken, puts the health and well-being of our children at risk,” Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg said.
