New CT Law Bans Religious Exemption From Childhood Vaccinations

CONNECTICUT — On Wednesday, Connecticut became the 6th state to forbid religious exemption from childhood vaccination requirements for schools.

Gov. Ned Lamont signed the legislation into law hours after state senators voted 22-14 in favor of the bill. All Republicans and two Democrats voted against it in the heavily Democratic legislature after nine hours of debate.

The Nutmeg State joined Maine, New York, West Virginia, Mississippi and California in an exclusive club forbidding any kind of vaccination exemption other than medical. Currently, 29 states allow religious exemptions, and another 15 allow philosophical exemptions for children whose parents object to immunizations because of personal, moral or other beliefs.

The Connecticut law applies to every level of school, from day care/child care centers through higher education. Students with existing religious exemptions will be grandfathered. The mandate does not require children to be vaccinated, but denies attendance at either public or private school in the state to the unvaccinated.

Notably, the specified vaccinations are for traditional childhood diseases such as measles, rubella and mumps. Vaccination against COVID-19 remains voluntary at all age levels in Connecticut.

The new law will also mandate that municipalities pay for vaccinations for children whose families cannot afford it, and requires the Connecticut Department of Public Health to release school-by-school immunization data.

In a statement issued shortly after signing the bill early Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont said: "This legislation is needed to protect our kids against serious illnesses that have been well-controlled for many decades, such as measles, tuberculosis, and whooping cough, but have reemerged. In recent years, the number of children in our state who have not received routine vaccinations has been steadily increasing, which has been mirrored by significant growth in preventable diseases across the nation."

Later Wednesday, opposition groups the CT Freedom Alliance and We The Patriots filed state and federal lawsuits intended to overturn the legislation.

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