The California state Senate recently passed a bill to eliminate ‘personal belief’ exemptions that currently allow parents to choose to opt their child out of school vaccine requirements. Senate Bill 277 was passed by the state Senate at a vote of 25 to 10, and will now advance to the Assembly.

Under the proposed measure, children would be required to be vaccinated prior to entering kindergarten. Exemptions based on personal and religious objections would no longer be permitted, while medical exemptions would still be accepted.

Parents who choose not to vaccinate will be required to home-school their children, participate in a multi-family private home school or use independent study programs administered by local education agencies.

“A child should never have to suffer through and possibly die from a vaccine-preventable disease,” Richard Pan, MD, a pediatrician and senator representing Sacramento who authored the bill, said in a press release. “The personal belief exemption is now putting other school children and people in our community in danger, and if we fail to act, we will continue to see outbreaks just like the one at Disneyland.”

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