Emily Rice Published

Morrisey Promises Religious Exemption To Vaccination On Day One

A child is seen receiving a vaccine.
On his first day as Governor, Patrick Morrisey promised West Virginia would allow religious exemptions to school-entry vaccines.
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West Virginia will no longer be one of three states in the nation without religious exemptions for school entry inoculation if one of newly sworn-in Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s first eight executive orders is successful.

Morrisey said the executive order interprets 2023 legislation, the Equal Protection for Religion Act, forbidding excessive government limitations on the exercise of religion.

“I think that legislation clarifying this is important because when the equal protection for religious act was passed, it didn’t amend specific laws,” Morrisey said. “So the vaccine laws stand alone. We want to make sure that specific laws that may be in conflict with others get addressed and are clarified by the legislature. So we envision this as a two-step process.”

Morrisey said he does not want West Virginia to be one of a few states without a religious exemption and believes the state is behind the curve.

“We believe that the Equal Protection for Religious Act strongly argues in favor of religious and conscientious exemptions,” Morrisey said. “West Virginia right now is an outlier. There are only several states that don’t recognize religious exemption. Today that changes, and we will be making that available to you.”

Read the finalized Executive Order here.

In the order, Morrisey directs the Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health and the State Health Officer to establish a process for parents or guardians who want to send their child to a state school or state-regulated child care center but object to one or more required vaccines on religious or conscientious grounds.

West Virginia’s State Health Officer, Dr. Matthew Christiansen resigned on Dec.16, 2024. Former Gov. Jim Justice said he would allow Morrisey to appoint someone to this position. No announcement has been made regarding a State Health Officer.

West Virginia currently has an interim Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health, Justin Davis.

“A writing signed by the objector” will be sufficient proof to establish the objection.

“That held belief, that would actually trump that (potential exposure and outbreaks of preventable disease), because you have to give meaning to this law, and I don’t think that that’s been done appropriately to date,” Morrisey said. “So I want to make sure that that happens. But to be clear the way the language is drafted, we want to be amending the specific area. So that’s, I think, the ideal way to do it. This is a step forward within the power of the government, what we control.”

According to the order, the Bureau for Public Health and the State Health Officer have to submit a plan to allow for religious exemptions by Feb. 1, 2025. 

It must include a proposal for any necessary legislation and rules that need to be changed to accommodate religious exemptions.

By Feb. 1, the Bureau for Public Health and the State Health Officer also have to report how many people have filed written objections to compulsory school immunization requirements.

In the order, Morrisey also said the Bureau for Public Health and the State Health Officer, and all officials and employees of the state “shall take no action to enforce the compulsory school immunization requirements” stating they “violate a religious and moral objection.”