Washington Senate removes some exemptions for vaccines

The Washington state Senate narrowly passed a measure late Wednesday that would make it harder for parents to opt out of vaccinating their children against the measles in response to the state's worst measles outbreak in more than two decades.

The bill, which would eliminate personal or philosophical exemptions from the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, is a victory for public health advocates who had not expected it to make it to the floor.

The measure passed 25 to 22 in the Democratic-controlled chamber, after being brought to the floor just minutes before the legislative deadline. No Republicans voted in favor, and two Democrats voted against.

The bill is expected to pass the House, where a nearly identical measure was approved last month, and be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee. It would be the first time in four years that a state has removed personal exemptions in the face of growing anti-vaccine sentiment. California and Vermont removed personal exemptions in 2015. Other states have tightened vaccine requirements but have not removed exemptions.

The bill's 11th-hour passage in the state Senate comes as the resurgent disease approaches record numbers and other states weigh similar legislation to close loopholes or eliminate personal or religious exemptions from vaccination requirements.

Inslee, who pushed lawmakers to support the measure, is also running for president on a platform centered on evidence-based science and climate change. The vaccine debate has pitted advocates of science and public health, who reflect the majority of Americans who support vaccinations, against a minority of anti-vaccine activists, who raise issues of personal choice and false claims about vaccines.

The stricter rule would apply only to immunizations for measles, mumps and rubella, also known as MMR. Parents would continue to be able to cite personal or philosophical exemptions to avoid other required school vaccinations for their children. Religious and medical exemptions will still be allowed for all vaccinations, including measles, mumps and rubella.

Advocates and lawmakers were able to overcome strong lobbying by anti-vaccine groups, which are among the most vocal and organized in the country. Those groups mobilized hundreds of supporters, who telephoned and sent emails to lawmakers, turned out for public hearings and proposed poison-pill amendments.

Republicans appeared to be close to killing the bill before a last-minute flurry of action.

State Sen. Annette Cleveland, the Democrat who sponsored the bill, spent more than two hours during the floor debate Wednesday night refuting misinformation about the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and measles' risk for children. She told colleagues that a vote against the bill would be "a vote against public health, a vote against the safety of our public spaces."

After the measure passed, she referred to the "unfortunate reality today that many people embrace conspiracy theories and alternative facts more readily than proven science."

"It's even more disappointing," she said in a statement, "when you hear colleagues across the aisle share their constituents' unsubstantiated Internet theories over the expert knowledge of our country's best medical minds at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Republican senators opposing the measure spoke repeatedly about government overreach. "I really believe parents should have the right to decide what type of medical procedures to use on their children, and that's especially true of little ones," said state Sen. Mike Padden.

But the bill's House sponsor, Rep. Paul Harris, a moderate Republican whose Clark County district is at the center of the outbreak, stood firm, saying his constituents overwhelmingly supported the measure.

"People are forgetting what some of these diseases are like," he said Thursday. "I hope this will get more kids vaccinated, which is the ultimate goal of all this... . We forget that science is what has made a huge difference in our society. Community immunity trumps personal freedom at times, especially what's going on now with all the measles outbreaks."

Immunization advocates were overjoyed by the bill's passage.

"We are elated!" said Sarah Rafton, executive director of the Washington chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Rupin Thakkar, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics chapter, blamed dangerous measles outbreaks on the rise of vaccine exemptions for personal beliefs and applauded the legislature for eliminating them. "The recent measles outbreak served as an alarm, and today our legislators bravely stood with facts over fiction," he said.

A Section on 04/19/2019

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