West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey on his first full day in office issued an executive order allowing for religious exemptions from mandatory school vaccinations, ending one of the most restrictive vaccination policies in the country.

“We’re ensuring that the current policy, which does not recognize a religious and conscientious exemption for vaccines — that is being changed,” he said at a news conference.

The exemption will be available to anyone who wants to send their child to school but objects on “religious or conscientious grounds” to one or more of the vaccines required by the state’s compulsory immunization law.

To comply with the new order parents need only provide a written statement on why they object to the vaccines.

West Virginia state law requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough before starting school. The state does not require COVID-19 vaccinations for children.

West Virginia was one of a tiny minority of states that didn’t recognize religious exemptions for vaccines. “Today that changes,” Morrisey said.

California, Maine, New York and Connecticut are the only remaining states that don’t allow religious or philosophical exemptions.

“It’s a great day in West Virginia,” Chris Figaretti, a pastor, told The Defender. “It’s a great day for freedom and we are grateful to Governor Morrisey for doing what he said he would.”

Figaretti is a member of West Virginia Parents for Religious Freedom, which sued the state in 2023 alleging the state policy — allowing medical but not religious exemptions — violated parents’ First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.

Morrisey, who was state attorney general at the time, filed an amicus brief on the plaintiffs’ behalf. He argued that the state’s lack of a religious exemption denied families who opposed vaccination on religious grounds “their fundamental, constitutional right to a public education in West Virginia.”

Morrisey also said the policy violated the state’s 2023 Equal Protection for Religion Act, which stipulates that the government must pursue its interest in “the least restrictive manner” so as to not disrupt people’s exercise of religion.

In recent years, many West Virginia residents and legislators have tried to pass a bill allowing for religious exemptions.

“We have been disappointed every legislative session where we think we have the votes we need,” Figaretti said, but after “behind-the-scenes politicking,” proposed measures don’t make it into law.

Last year, the Republican-majority legislature passed a bill that would have loosened West Virginia’s strict policy by allowing religious exemptions for children in virtual schools and allowing private and parochial schools to set their own exemption policies, The Associated Press reported.

However, former Republican Gov. Jim Justice vetoed the bill, citing concerns of medical professionals about “crippling childhood immunity” in a state with poor children’s health outcomes, West Virginia Watch reported.

Morrisey said in his press conference that he expects legislation in the upcoming legislative session will clarify a religious exemption from vaccination in the state.

“I think that legislation clarifying this is important, because when the Equal Protection for Religious Act was passed, it didn’t amend specific laws. So, the vaccine laws stand alone,” Morrisey said.

News is ‘wonderful and welcome’ for health freedom

Proponents of health freedom celebrated the news.

“I was overwhelmed with emotion because so many families have had hardship and vaccine injuries, and have just really been oppressed in our state,” Chanda Adkins, president of West Virginians for Health Freedom, told The Defender. “And so it was humbling. People’s rights have been violated because we haven’t had the ability to choose, and now that will happen.”

Mary Holland, CEO of Children’s Health Defense (CHD), told The Defender the news was “both wonderful and welcome.”

“All medical interventions, including vaccination, must be based on true informed consent with the opportunity to refuse,” Holland said. “I hope that this example will influence the states of California, Maine, New York and Connecticut that espouse liberal credentials while enforcing authoritarian health policies.”

CHD Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker called the news “a huge win for medical freedom” as West Virginia has never had a religious exemption for school attendance before.

“As more and more families are opting out of vaccination, I believe we’ll see states start to practice good public health with stronger commitments to medical choice and bodily autonomy,” Hooker said.

Parents battling with the state for decades

Figaretti said parents in West Virginia have been fighting this battle with the state for decades.

In the meantime, parents with sincere religious beliefs have been left on their own to figure out how to educate their children without being compelled to vaccinate them, Marlene Moss, another member of West Virginia Parents for Religious Freedom, told The Defender.

Figaretti is one of many parents who have had to send their children across state lines to Ohio so they could attend school with a religious exemption.

Others moved out of state or are homeschooling their kids, Moss said. “The homeschool movement in West Virginia has just grown tremendously.”

Adkins, a former state representative, said parents had been advocating for religious exemptions and to end state vaccine mandates at least since the early 2000s.

They had some success in 2015, she said, when they made it legal to not vaccinate your children. “Prior to 2015, it was a misdemeanor in our state and carried a fine,” she said. Despite that small change, there were still very restrictive policies around exemptions.

Adkins said getting legislation passed has been challenging because house members can change every two years, so parents and advocacy groups like West Virginians for Health Freedom have dedicated themselves to educating representatives on the issue.

Moss said the parents who have been organizing around exemptions knew the new governor supported a religious exemption, but they were surprised by the announcement of an executive order on day one. “It was just amazing,” she said.

She is optimistic that the legislature will codify Morrisey’s executive order into law because support for exemptions has grown among the public and in the legislature.

Adkins said she was certain that when the state legislative session begins next month lawmakers will introduce legislation. “We’re waiting to see who’s going to get to the finish line first,” she said, anticipating that both the senate and the house will rush to propose a bill.

She hopes the bills will be even more expansive than the order and provide a clear path to exemptions for West Virginians.