AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - Maine moved a step closer Wednesday to ending non-medical exemptions for routine childhood vaccinations required to attend school.
The Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee voted 8-5 on a bill that would end the opt-out by September 2021 for students at elementary, secondary and postsecondary schools, as well as employees of nursery schools and health care facilities.
The state doesn’t know exactly how many students are not vaccinated for religious or philosophical reasons, but the Department of Education estimated Wednesday that as many as five percent - or 9,032 - of students may have non-medical exemptions. Survey data from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that nearly 2,000 Maine kindergarteners, 7th graders and 12th graders currently have such exemptions.
The notions that vaccines cause autism or that substances in them can poison people have been thoroughly debunked, and the National Institutes of Health says reports of serious reactions are rare.
Maine has one of the nation’s highest rates of pertussis - also known as whooping cough and for which there is a vaccine. It also had one of the highest rates for non-medical exemptions in 2017-2018.
Schools and many health care facilities typically require vaccinations, but Maine is among 17 states that allows some non-medical exemptions for “personal, moral or other beliefs,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Oregon and Washington are also considering bills to end non-medical exemptions for childhood vaccines.
Supporters said the Maine bill would better protect children with weak immune systems who cannot be vaccinated.
“As we hear more reports of measles and other preventable diseases in Maine and across the country, it is becoming only more clear that we must act to ensure more students are immunized and the health of our communities is protected,” said bill sponsor Rep. Ryan Tipping, a Democrat.
The bill now heads to the House and Senate, both led by Democrats.
Republican Sen. Matt Pouliot questioned the state’s lack of comprehensive data on student vaccinations and whether Maine is ready to deal with the impact of thousands of students leaving schools if they don’t get vaccinated.
He and other opponents argued Maine parents should remain free to decide whether they vaccinate their kids.
Committee member Rep. Heidi Sampson, a Republican, said the state is creating a “civil rights issue” by stigmatizing thousands of kids who could eventually face removal from school.
“We are targeting a minority, five percent of the student population, we’re segregating and marginalizing them,” she said.
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