West Virginia again bans religious reasons for school vaccine exemptions

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The West Virginia Board of Education on Tuesday reinstated a school vaccination mandate after the state Supreme Court paused a lower court’s ruling that allowed parents to cite religious beliefs to opt out of shots required for their children to attend classes.

The Supreme Court earlier Tuesday issued a stay in last week’s ruling by Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble in a class-action lawsuit. In issuing an injunction, Froble said children of families who objected to the state’s compulsory vaccination law on religious grounds would be allowed to attend school and participate in extracurricular sports.

The Supreme Court halted Froble’s ruling pending resolution of appeals in the case. In light of that, the board said in a statement that it “is reinstating its directive to county boards of education not to accept religious exemptions to compulsory vaccination laws. This directive will be in effect until the Supreme Court issues further guidance.”

The board further said its priority is to ensure compliance with the vaccine law “and safeguard the health and well-being of all students across West Virginia.”

The board had suspended the vaccine mandate last week after Froble’s ruling, which said that a state policy barring parents from seeking religious exemptions violated the Equal Protection for Religion Act signed into law in 2023 by then-Republican Gov. Jim Justice.

West Virginia was among just a handful of states that granted only medical exemptions from school vaccinations when Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order in January allowing religious exemptions. In June, the board directed public schools to ignore Morrisey’s executive order. Two groups had sued over the executive order, saying the Legislature, not the governor, has the authority to make such decisions.

Legislation that would have allowed the religious exemptions was passed by the state Senate and rejected by the House of Delegates earlier this year. Froble said in his ruling that the failure of the legislation did not determine the application of the 2023 law. He rejected the defendants’ argument that religious exemptions can only be created by legislative action.

Morrisey spokesman Drew Galang said in a statement Tuesday night that the governor’s office is reviewing the Supreme Court’s order.

Miranda Guzman and other parents sued the state and local boards of education and the Raleigh County schools superintendent. Guzman had obtained a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate from the state health department and enrolled her child in elementary school for the 2025-26 school year. But on June 17, Guzman received an email from the local school superintendent rescinding the certificate, according to the lawsuit.

Last month, Froble certified the lawsuit as a class action involving 570 families who had sought and received religious exemptions in other parts of the state. He said the class action also applies to parents who seek religious exemptions in the future.

West Virginia’s school vaccination policy long has been heralded by medical experts as one of the most protective in the country for children. State law requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough before starting school.

At least 30 states have religious freedom laws, including one signed by Georgia’s governor in April. The laws are modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton, which allows federal regulations that interfere with religious beliefs to be challenged.