A bill that would have broadened vaccine exemptions in day care, schools and workplaces in Kansas got rejected Thursday by a legislative committee.
The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee voted 3-4 against sending the bill to the full Senate.
A law enacted in 2021 already allows Kansas workers to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine if it’s against their religious beliefs without question from an employer. The bill rejected in committee Thursday would have extended that to all vaccines and added children. For kids, those vaccines would include measles, mumps, tetanus and more.
The legislation would take current law further by saying people would merely need to say they have a moral objection, rather than requiring some documentation that a religion they belong to opposes vaccinations.
“It’s liberalizing religious exemptions to really become nothing more than a personal belief exemption,” said Dr. Josh Williams, a pediatrician and professor at the University of Colorado who has researched religious exemptions and vaccine hesitancy.
Religious and medical exemptions have existed for decades. But schools, for instance, often have discretion about how much someone has to document a religious objection before their vaccination requirement was waived.
Williams said religious exemptions have traditionally been carved out for small sects with specific objections to vaccines.
“No major faith traditions,” he said, “prohibit vaccination and all major faith traditions expressly support vaccination.”
That includes Pope Francis, who stated that getting the COVID-19 vaccine was a “moral obligation” and that vaccines are an “act of love.”
Williams said his research found people want a larger voice in deciding when vaccines should be required. Broadening exemptions, he said, poses a public health hazard.
The legislation brought heated testimony from both sides. Supporters of the far broader exemption argued for personal freedom and bodily autonomy.
Olivia Lyon testified about her struggle to find child care for her three children while refusing to vaccinate them on religious grounds.
“Our children should not be excluded in this nor should they have to choose between their faith, schools, jobs or day care restrictions for their future kids,” she said.
Other parents made similar calls for personal freedoms. Kathryn Andries said vaccine mandates threaten her daughter’s future.
“I don’t want her to be in a position where she has to choose between getting a vaccine or going to college,” Andries said.
