Bill Could Eliminate Religious Exemptions For School Vaccines

WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel has more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If parents choose not to vaccinate their kids and want
to homeschool them, they have every right to do that.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
North Saunders is the head of American Families for Vaccines,
trying to outlaw the state's religious exemptions to vaccine mandates
in Massachusetts schools as a bill on Beacon Hill to
that effect. He says an increasing number of parents are
using that exemption as a loophole.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
There is a long historical precedent that established the state's
ability to mandate vaccines and not allow for exemptions.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
That was basically the position of the Supreme Court in
nineteen oh five, though this court is considering a vaccine revisit.
The bill wouldn't force kids to get vaccines, It would
just bar them from public schools if they don't have
them or a rare health exemption. Candice Edwards with Health
Action Masses. For a state with diverse values, that's just
not an acceptable outcome.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Homeschooling is not an option for everybody.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Kyle Schaffel WBZ, Boston's news radio