EUGENE, Ore. — An Oregon legislator is attempting to end the state’s non-medical vaccine exemption for children. Rep. Cheri Helt, R-Bend, announced Friday that she is co-sponsoring House Bill 3063 because of the recent outbreak of measles in Washington and Oregon earlier this year.
“I believe in science, the safety of our children and in sensible, fact-based public policy,” Helt said in a press release. “We should close this loophole that places children, families and communities at risk of illness and death from diseases that were nearly eliminated just a generation ago.”
The exact language of HB 3063 is unknown because the measure had not been posted to the Oregon Legislature’s website by Friday afternoon. The bill also is being sponsored by Rep. Mitch Greenlick, a Democrat from Portland, but it was unclear if other legislators had signed on.
“The bill is meant to end all non-medical exemptions for (the measles, mumps and rubella) and (measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox) vaccines,” said Helt’s chief of staff Quinn Burket in an email.
Oregon law requires parents to provide proof that their child has been vaccinated against several diseases, such as measles, before enrolling the child in school. Parents also may get a medical or non-medical exemption for any or all of the vaccines for their child. Medical exemptions usually are signed by a doctor and state that the child cannot get the vaccine for medical reasons, such as allergies to ingredients in the vaccine or a compromised immune system.
Parents who object to vaccines for religious, personal or philosophical reasons may file a non-medical vaccine exemption with their child’s school or child care center. In order to get a non-medical vaccine exemption, a parent has to talk to their child’s doctor and have the doctor sign a certificate or, alternatively, watch an online video and print off a certificate to hand into the school.
Helt’s bill comes on the heels of Oregon’s exemption day, which was Feb. 20. Each year, Oregon schools and County Public Health officials send out letters to the parents of all school-age children who do not have an up-to-date vaccine record or a vaccine exemption on file with their school.
Lane County Public Health sent out around 1,600 reminder letters to parents this year. Last year, the county sent out 1,606 letters.
Students who do not have an up-to-date vaccine record or vaccine exemption on file after the exclusion day cannot attend school until the information is provided to the school.
Eugene mom Nicole DeGraff said she is concerned about the bill because her two children are not fully vaccinated. Her children had bad reactions to the first series of childhood vaccines most children get when they are infants, she said.
If the bill passes and is signed into law, DeGraff said she may homeschool her children because they do not qualify for a medical exemption because doctors can’t pinpoint which vaccine or vaccine ingredient might have caused their reactions.
