Earlier this year the state Assembly passed a bill that requires publicly funded institutions of higher learning to allow students to be exempt from immunization requirements by claiming a health, religious, or personal conviction waiver. The bill also requires that the institutions notify students of their right to a waiver from immunization requirements and stipulates the institutions cannot require any student to explain or justify his or her objection to immunization. The bill still needs a vote in the state senate.
What this bill does is basically extends the immunization exemptions law, which currently specifically applies to K-12 schools and students and their parents. It seems reasonable to include college-level students in these exemptions. Meanwhile, liberals have offered a bill that would remove the personal conviction option, seeking to restrict health freedom.
