California Moves Toward Stricter Vaccination Rules for Schoolchildren

Lawmakers in California’s Assembly approved a bill Thursday that would make vaccinations required for schoolchildren, regardless of any parental or religious objection.

The measure, if signed by Governor Jerry Brown following Senate approval of several minor amendments, would be among the strictest mandatory vaccination laws in the U.S., the Los Angeles Times reported. The only way for children starting school to avoid a vaccination against whooping cough and measles would be for a doctor to sign off on an exemption due to a medical condition, like an immune system deficiency or an allergy.

The move comes in the months after a measles outbreak that sickened some 130 people, including visitors to Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. If the bill becomes law, California would become the country’s 32nd state to mandate vaccinations regardless of personal beliefs, but only the third to block religious exemptions.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.