West Virginia lawmakers OK bill drawing back one of the country’s strictest child vaccination laws

By LEAH WILLINGHAM
Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s GOP-controlled state Legislature has voted to allow some students who don’t attend traditional public schools to be exempt from state vaccination requirements. The bill was approved Saturday despite the objections of Republican Senate Health and Human Resources Chair Mike Maroney, a trained doctor. He calls the bill “an embarrassment” and says he believes lawmakers are harming the state. West Virginia currently doesn’t allow any nonmedical exemptions to vaccination requirements for starting school. The new proposed law would allow virtual public school students to be exempt, and private schools to institute policies exempting students from the law if they choose.