JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is beginning the court-ordered process of allowing individuals to use religious beliefs as grounds for seeking exemptions from mandatory vaccinations for children attending day care or school.
Despite being one of the poorest states with high rates of health issues such as obesity and heart disease, Mississippi has been recognized by public health officials for its high childhood vaccination rates against diseases like polio, measles, and mumps.
In April, U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden ruled that Mississippi must join most other states in granting religious exemptions from childhood vaccinations.
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed last year by several parents who argued that their religious beliefs prevented them from vaccinating their children and sending them to Mississippi schools. The lawsuit, backed by the Texas-based Informed Consent Action Network, claimed that Mississippi’s lack of a religious exemption violated the U.S. Constitution.
Ozerden set a deadline for the state to comply with the order by this Saturday. The Mississippi State Department of Health website will provide information on the process for seeking religious exemptions on that day, as stated in court documents filed on behalf of Dr. Daniel Edney, the state health officer.
“To be clear, Dr. Edney does not endorse Plaintiffs’ views on vaccination or their arguments that the School Vaccination Law is unconstitutional,” wrote Michael J. Bentley, the attorney representing the health officer.
Bentley also indicated that Edney disagreed with Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s position that the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act, enacted in 2014, already provided a religious exemption to the school vaccination law.
“In Dr. Edney’s opinion, the School Vaccination Law is constitutional as it is without a religious exemption, although he respects her authority to express her opinion on Mississippi law,” Bentley wrote.
Prior to this, Mississippi already allowed individuals to claim medical exemptions for a series of five required vaccinations for children enrolling in public or private school. These immunizations include diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, hepatitis, measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox. Note that COVID-19 vaccinations are not currently required in Mississippi.
Under the new religious exemption process, state health officials are not permitted to question the sincerity of an individual’s religious beliefs. The exemption must be granted if the appropriate forms are completed correctly, according to Bentley.
“The process is intended to respect the beliefs of parents who object to vaccinating their children based on religious grounds, while also safeguarding the health of Mississippi’s 440,000 K-12 students and maintaining the progress made in preventing cases of debilitating and fatal diseases among school children,” Bentley wrote.
According to the lawsuit, some of the plaintiffs have chosen to homeschool their children, while others have connections to Mississippi through family or work but live in states that already allow religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations.
California, Connecticut, Maine, Mississippi, New York, and West Virginia have been the only states without religious or personal belief exemptions for school immunization requirements, as reported by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Mississippi previously had a religious exemption for childhood vaccinations, which was overturned in 1979 by a state court judge who argued that vaccinated children have a constitutional right to avoid associating with their unvaccinated peers, as stated in the lawsuit.
In recent years, Mississippi lawmakers have rejected proposals to allow religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations, with health officials cautioning that increased exemptions could result in the spread of preventable diseases.