A West Virginia judge has ruled that parents can use their religious beliefs to opt out of school vaccine requirements for their children.
Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble issued a permanent injunction on Wednesday, allowing children from families who object to the state’s vaccine mandate on religious grounds to attend school and participate in extracurricular activities.
Froble found that prohibiting religious exemptions violated the Equal Protection for Religion Act, passed in 2023 by former Governor Jim Justice.
Earlier this year, West Virginia allowed only medical exemptions from school vaccine requirements. Governor Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order permitting religious exemptions, but the state Board of Education voted in June to have public schools follow existing law instead, ignoring the governor’s order.
Following Wednesday’s ruling, the Board of Education announced it “suspends the policy on compulsory vaccination requirements” while an appeal before the state Supreme Court is pending.
Morrisey praised the decision, calling it “a win for every family forced from school over their faith.”
Two groups had challenged Morrisey’s order, arguing that only the legislature, not the governor, could authorize religious exemptions. Legislation allowing such exemptions passed in the state Senate but was rejected by the House of Delegates earlier this year.
Judge Froble rejected the argument that religious exemptions must be legislated, saying that legislative intent “is not absolute nor controlling in interpreting a statute or determining its application; at most, it is a factor.”
The lawsuit was filed by a group of parents against the state, local boards of education, and the Raleigh County schools superintendent. One parent had obtained a religious exemption for her child but later had it rescinded by the local superintendent.
In July, Froble issued a preliminary injunction letting children from three families attend school while the case proceeded. Last month, he certified the case as a class action for 570 families who had received or sought religious exemptions in the state. The ruling also applies to future parents seeking exemptions.
Froble noted that the number of exemptions represents a small portion of the student population and “would not meaningfully reduce vaccination rates or increase health risks.”
West Virginia requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus, and whooping cough before attending school.
At least 30 states have religious freedom laws allowing individuals to challenge government rules that interfere with religious beliefs. These laws are modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, which permits legal challenges to federal regulations that conflict with religious practices.
