New York eliminated the religious exemption to vaccine requirements for schoolchildren, Thursday, as the nation's worst measles outbreak in decades prompts states to reconsider giving parents ways to opt out of immunization rules.
The Democrat-led Senate and State Assembly voted Thursday to repeal the exemption, which allows parents to cite religious beliefs to forego getting their child the vaccines required for school enrollment.
The majority of cases are from outbreaks in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York.
In April, the New York City Health Department ordered all ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools in a neighborhood of Brooklyn to exclude unvaccinated students from classes during the current measles outbreak.
In issuing the order, the health department said any yeshiva in Williamsburg that does not comply would face fines and possible closure.
City health officials said the measles outbreak among Orthodox Jewish communities continues to increase "at an alarming rate."
Most of the cases confirmed in New York City since the beginning of the outbreak in October have been reported in Williamsburg and Borough Park – two Brooklyn neighborhoods with large Jewish Orthodox populations, in which vaccination rates tend to be lower.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed the measure minutes after the final vote. The law takes effect immediately but will give unvaccinated students up to 30 days after they enter a school to show they've had the first dose of each required immunization.
The issue is hotly contested and debate around it has often been emotional, pitting cries that religious freedom is being curtailed against warnings that public health is being endangered. After the vote in the Assembly, many of those watching from the gallery erupted in cries of "Shame!" One woman yelled obscenities to the lawmakers seated below.
The debate has only intensified with this year's measles outbreak, which federal officials have said has recently surpassed 1,000 cases, the highest in 27 years.
"I'm not aware of anything in the Torah, the Bible, the Koran or anything else that suggests you should not get vaccinated," said Bronx Democrat Jeffrey Dinowitz, the bill's Assembly sponsor. "If you choose to not vaccinate your child, therefore potentially endangering other children ... then you're the one choosing not to send your children to school."
Hundreds of parents of unvaccinated children gathered at New York's Capitol for the vote to protest.
Supporters of the bill say religious beliefs about vaccines shouldn't eclipse scientific evidence that they work, noting the US Supreme Court ruled in 1905 that states have the right to enforce compulsory vaccination laws. During the Assembly's floor debate, supporters brought up scourges of the past that were defeated in the US through vaccines.
"I'm old enough to have been around when polio was a real threat," said Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, a Democrat representing the city of Manhattan. "I believe in science .... Your personal opinions, which may be based on junk science, do not trump the greater good."
Supporters also suggest some parents may be claiming the religious exemption for their children even though their opposition is actually based on scientifically discredited claims about the dangers of vaccines.
The bill would not change an existing state exemption given to children who cannot have vaccines for medical reasons, such as a weakened immune system.
Cuomo told reporters on Wednesday that he believes public health – and the need to protect those who cannot get vaccinated because for medical reasons – outweighs the concerns about religious freedom.
"I understand freedom of religion," he said. "I have heard the anti-vaxxers' theory, but I believe both are overwhelmed by the public health risk."
The current measles outbreak has renewed concern about the exemptions in many states. The nation last saw as many cases in 1992, when more than 2,200 were reported.
Once common in the US, measles became rare after vaccination campaigns that started in the 1960s. A decade ago, there were fewer than 100 cases a year.
