Parents won’t be able to cite religion to avoid getting kids vaccinated under bill up for vote!!

A Statehouse hearing Thursday afternoon is likely the last chance Garden State residents will get to tell elected officials what they think about a bill that would repeal the religious exemption that has enabled thousands of children avoid vaccinations required to attend school.

The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the legislation, S2175, which, if enacted, would make New Jersey the sixth state to eliminate religion or “personal beliefs” exemptions to vaccines.

The bill gained steam after an outbreak of about a dozen measles cases in Ocean County in the first half of 2019 raised concern about the growing number of families who distrust and refuse vaccines. There have been 19 confirmed cases of measles this year in New Jersey, and 1,276 nationwide.

[link to www.nj.com (secure)]