Meghan Moses: WV shouldn't tinker with vaccination laws (Opinion)

Charleston Gazette-Mail

On Feb. 23, Rick Lord sat down to discuss House Bill 535 (Religious or Philosophical Exceptions for Childhood Immunizations) with Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Randolph, and Dr. Steven Eshenaur, director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, for an episode of “Outside the Echo Chamber.” 

Karnes is a proponent of this bill, which would allow parents to forgo immunizations that our public school systems require before enrollment simply if they have a religious or philosophical objection. Other states that have adopted similar legislation have seen outbreaks of these highly contagious and preventable diseases; the state of Washington and our neighboring state of Ohio both experienced a measles outbreak, and as recently as two weeks ago there was a measles case confirmed at a Kentucky spiritual revival event.

Karnes couches support for this dangerous bill in terms of choice; he argues that proponents support it in part because it comes down to “the basic fundamental question of freedom: whether or not each individual has the right to choose their own personal healthcare- and so from that perspective they also believe that its wrong for the state to interfere with their healthcare and try to mandate [certain healthcare decisions].”