This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
School immunization mandates continue to face legislative challenges
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Thirty-six bills were introduced in 18 states seeking to modify school immunization mandates from 2009 to 2012, most seeking to expand exemptions. However, none of the bills seeking to expand exemptions passed, according to a recent research letter published in JAMA.
Saad B. Omer, MBBS, MPH, PhD, assistant professor at Emory University, and colleagues evaluated legislation proposed from 2009 to 2012 to modify exemptions to school immunization requirements, particularly at the state level. Bills were classified as those that did or did not have personal belief exemptions and those that restricted or expanded exemptions. They were also classified as those that needed administrative requirements (defined as needing action from the child’s parent beyond signing an exemption form).
Fifteen of the introduced bills did not include administrative requirements, seven had one or two administrative requirements, and 14 had three to five administrative requirements.
Twenty states already had bills with personal belief exemptions; of those, five states introduced bills to restrict exemptions and one introduced a bill to expand them. Thirty states had bills without a personal belief exemption; of those, none introduced a bill to restrict exemptions and 13 introduced a bill to expand them. Of the newly introduced 36 bills, five restricted exemptions and 31 expanded them. Zero bills expanding exemptions were passed by the state legislatures, whereas three of the five restricting exemptions were passed.
“Exemptions to school immunization requirements continue to be an issue for discussion and debate in many state legislatures,” the researchers wrote. “Even though the majority of bills introduced would have expanded exemptions, 14% were designed to strengthen an existing nonmedical exemption. All of the legislative efforts to expand exemptions failed; however, the majority of bills to restrict exemptions passed.”
Disclosure: One researcher reports financial ties with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the CDC, Merck Company Foundation, and Novartis Vaccines. No other researchers report any relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts