Shameful: Lawmakers ignore science, common sense
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Backward and backward, and then backward a little more. The march on which some lawmakers have dragged West Virginia this legislative session is not just absurd, it is dangerous. Among the most recent attempts is the House of Delegates' passing of House Bill 5105, which eliminates the vaccine requirement for students participating in statewide virtual public schools or future county-level virtual public charter schools. HB 5105 also expands vaccine exemptions to students attending private or parochial schools.
And finally, it creates a religious exemption for all vaccines in public and private schools as long as a parent or guardian presents a letter stating the reasons for the religious exemption request.
Despite being dressed up in disingenuous language about freedom, this bill is supported by NOTHING but baseless social media conspiracy theories and unfounded fears we have been battling as a state since a certain segment of political operatives first decided it was an easy way to stir up voters at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lawmakers' assault on our kids simply must be stopped.
Del. Bob Fehrenbacher, R-Wood, was right to try, by reading from reports that showed proof of success for vaccination efforts. What a shame not enough were listening.
It seems almost a deliberate attempt to knock down the Mountain State from one of the very few rankings in which we are at the top.
"We're number one in childhood immunizations," said House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. "That should be very important to us. We shouldn't chip away at that."
If we do, it is nothing but a deadly "race to the bottom," as Hornbuckle put it.
Why would we want that for our children? They cannot defend themselves -- not from tobacco smoke in a vehicle, not from an education system that is being chilled into uselessness, not from those who would encourage the spread of potentially deadly diseases about which we have not had to worry for decades.
Surely reason will prevail. What a tragedy for Mountain State kids if it does not.