"When parents or guardians go to fill out this religious exception they acknowledge in a more formal way that what they were doing... is very serious."
Sen. Terry Gerratana
Connecticut parents and guardians who want to exempt their children from immunizations for religious reasons will have to take an extra step, under a bill that's moving to Governor Dannel Malloy's desk.
Currently, they must simply present a statement that the immunization would be contrary to the child's religious beliefs. But under the bill which cleared the Senate Tuesday, such statements must be submitted annually and officially "acknowledged" by a notary public, attorney, judge, family support magistrate, court clerk, deputy clerk or justice of the peace.
“When parents or guardians go to fill out this religious exception they acknowledge in a more formal way that what they were doing...is very serious,” said New Britain Sen. Terry Gerratana, Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee, during debate of the bill.
Diseases that schools require vaccinations against include mumps, measles, rubella, polio, hepatitis and others.
Gerratana said the bill is needed because a growing number of people are exempting their children. She spoke passionately on the Senate floor about the need for vaccinations, recalling childhood friends who had contracted polio prior to the existence of the vaccine.
The legislation, however, could be modified by text within another bill, referred to as the Public Health Revisor’s bill, that would remove the annual requirement for the religious exemption statement. Instead, any exemption statements would be submitted just at two points -- once when the child enters kindergarten, and once when he or she enters 7th grade -- times consistent with the typical schedule of vaccinations. School nurses would also be added to the list of those able to acknowledge the submitted statement.
Sen. Joe Markley spoke in opposition to the bill, stating that he did not believe the notarization “roadblock” was the best way to discourage non-vaccination; instead, he would prefer more education of the dangers of non-vaccination to children. However, Markley did say that he approved of the changes included in the Revisor’s bill.
Testimony begins in the video below at 8:00.
By continuing to include a religious exemption to vaccinations, Connecticut keeps policies consistent with the majority of states. Only two states -- Mississippi and West Virginia -- do not have religious exemptions to vaccinations.
This report includes information from The Associated Press. Nicole Wetsman is a WNPR intern.
