foxnews.com/us/states-seek-to-cut-off-religious-exemptions-for-vaccination
Connecticut's Attorney General gave state lawmakers the legal go-ahead Monday to pursue legislation that would prevent parents from exempting their children from vaccinations for religious reasons, a move that several states are considering amid a significant measles outbreak.
The non-binding ruling from William Tong, a Democrat, was released the same day public health officials in neighboring New York called on state legislators there to pass similar legislation . Most of the cases in the current outbreak have been in New York state.
[...] Connecticut is just one of several states considering whether to end longstanding laws that allow people to opt out of vaccinations for religious purposes. In the face of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, some have alleged religious exemptions have been abused by "anti-vaxxers" who believe vaccines are harmful despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
But the proposals to eliminate the opt-outs have also sparked emotional debates about religious freedom and the rights of parents.
Most religions have no prohibitions against vaccinations, according to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee. Yet the number of people seeking the religious exemption in Connecticut has been consistently climbing. There were 316 issued during the 2003-04 school year, compared to 1,255 in the 2017-18 school year.
[...] All 50 states have laws requiring students to have certain vaccinations. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, all but Mississippi, West Virginia and California grant religious exemptions. As of Jan. 30, the conference said 17 states allowed people to exempt their children for personal, moral or other philosophical beliefs.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:30PM (3 children)
This is a particularly odious form of trolling. It's not even "ironically" funny. Fuck off.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @08:40PM (2 children)
You must admit there wouldn't be such pussyfooting in the media around the issue if Jewish communities weren't a focal point for measles transmission.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday May 08 2019, @09:12PM (1 child)
Anti-vaxxer stupidity cuts across racial, ethnic, and religious lines, it seems. The common thread is some misguided sort of purity scare, did you notice?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 09 2019, @07:22AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves