Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

New bill could force parents to vaccinate their kids even if they claim it’s against their religion

Published Jan 11th, 2020 1:45PM EST
Vaccines
Image: Billion Photos/Shutterstock

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

A bill in New Jersey may soon preclude parents from using religion as a basis for not vaccinating their children, a development that has predictably caused quite a stir in the anti-vaxxer community. While public schools in the state require students to be vaccinated, parents opposed to vaccination have long been able to seek exemptions on religious grounds. Alas, that exemption appears to be on the way out the door.

The New Jersey state Senate on Thursday approved the bill in question after adding a few amendments to satiate some conservative lawmakers. Specifically, the bill’s amendments note that private schools can accept non-vaccinated children on the condition that they publicly disclose how many students aren’t vaccinated.

Naturally, the bill elicited quite a bit of outrage from those in the anti-vaxxer camp. Yesterday afternoon, thousands of protesters gathered outside the Statehouse to voice their opposition to the bill. With many protesters chanting “Kill the Bill!”, others accused state lawmakers of being murderers.

Some protesters held signs that said, “Where there is a risk there must be a choice.” Photos of the protest also showed one mother holding a sign that said, “My Body, My Religion, My Kids, My Rights!”

A final vote on the bill is slated to take place next week, with many observers of the mind that it will pass. Still, it won’t happen without a fight.

NJ.com reports:

Now, the stage is set Monday for another clash with potentially thousands of parents and religious leaders who have inundated lawmakers’ offices with calls and emails for the last month.

Just like they did last month, protestors packed the courtyards outside the Statehouse on Thursday, this time chanting “O’Scanlon vote no!” and “Amendments won’t work!”

Women pounded buckets. Scores blew whistles. Bells rang and sirens howled and families shouted into megaphones, the sound so deafening that one protester used his hand to shield his toddler’s ears.

Clearly, the anti-vaccination movement may be small overall, but its adherents are incredibly vocal, passionate, and pro-active. Indeed, there are few issues today as contentious as vaccination. While anti-vaxxers claim that vaccines are either unnecessary or an underlying cause of autism, those who support vaccinations claim that unvaccinated children put everyone else at risk.

Yoni Heisler Contributing Writer

Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the tech industry at large with over 15 years of experience. A life long expert Mac user and Apple expert, his writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK, and TUAW.

When not analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys catching Improv shows in Chicago, playing soccer, and cultivating new TV show addictions.