In seven states, legislation to make it easier for parents to keep their children from getting school-mandated vaccines is being considered; and in two states, legislation to make it harder is being considered, according to USA Today.
Nearly every state except West Virginia and Mississippi already allows parents to opt out of vaccines because of religious beliefs. But now, according to the paper, lawmakers in seven states -- including West Virginia and Mississippi -- want to extend that exemption to philosophical beliefs -- something twenty states already allow.
Concerns about required vaccines have been on the rise in recent years, spurred by an influx of conservative politicians who favor hands-off government and think the decision should be left to the parents as well as the controversial theory that vaccines could possibly cause autism, a developmental disorder that has been on the rise among children in recent decades.
"I've had parents encourage me for quite some time that would like to be in charge of what's put into their children's bodies," Republican West Virginia state Sen. Donna Boley, told the paper. Boley introduced the philosophical exemptions bill in her state.
The proposed change worries public health experts who say that if enough children fail to get the required vaccinations, diseases that once plagued large portions of the U.S. population -- such as small pox, polio, and measles -- could become a problem again. Cases of the measles, which can cause serious complications and lead to death, are actually on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state health departments reported more than 200 cases of the measles in at least 24 states last year -- the highest number since 2001. The average annual number of reported cases is 56. Most of the people infected last year had not been vaccinated.
Indiana, which requires the measles vaccine unless parents have religious objections, is currently experiencing its second outbreak of measles in two years, the Associated Press reports, with 13 confirmed cases. The first two cases were reported at the Super Bowl, Amy Reel, spokesperson for the Indiana State Department of Health, told Governing.
Large events are breeding grounds for disease transmission, so Indiana State Health Department officials reached out to state health officials in New York and Massachusetts -- home to the football teams in this year's Super Bowl -- to let them know to be on the lookout, said Reel. The agency is also coordinating with local health departments and the CDC to identify additional cases and to prevent the disease from spreading beyond Boone and Hamilton counties.
Roughly 90 percent of Americans have gotten the measles vaccination and more than 92 percent of toddlers in Indiana got it in 2010, reports the AP. A bill to extend immunization exemptions to a parent's personal or moral beliefs has not been introduced in the 2012 Indiana Legislature.
