Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation on Wednesday to eliminate the religious exemption for student vaccines, although opponents of the measure are already gearing up for legal action.
Lamont, a Democrat, put his signature on House Bill 6423, which requires all new students in Connecticut’s public and private schools as well as child care programs to be vaccinated, according to the state’s immunization schedule for September 2022.
“This is an issue that I have spent a lot of time researching and discussing with medical experts, and it is something that I take very seriously knowing the public health impact that it has on our children, families, and communities,” Lamont said in a statement. “When it comes to the safety of our children, we need to take an abundance of caution.”
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Following the end of debate over the bill on Tuesday, Democratic state Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney said of the bill, “It is an assertion of the state’s need and right to protect its vulnerable children from the possibility of illness and for those children to pass it along to other children who come to school already immunocompromised, immunosuppressed and dependent upon other children to be safely vaccinated so that they may safely attend school.”
The bill was passed through the Senate late on Tuesday in a 22-14 vote. Two Democrats joined the 12-member Republican minority, which argued during debate that the legislation amounted to government overreach.
Protesters, gathered by the group Informed Choice USA, spent Tuesday chanting “Kill the bill” outside the state Capitol and expressed their objections to the repeal, citing religious freedom, personal liberties, and parental rights.
The group’s founder promised on Wednesday to go to court over the law.
“We are absolutely going to be challenging this in court,” LeeAn Ducat said Wednesday morning, according to the Connecticut Post.
The Washington Examiner could not immediately reach the Connecticut House Republican caucus for comment.
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Most states have either a religious exemption or personal belief exemption from school vaccination requirements, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
