Governor Patrick Morrisey has issued guidance reflecting his administration’s intent to maintain an executive order allowing religious exemptions to West Virginia’s school vaccination policies — directing public school officials to comply and asking private schools to do so.
The guidance does not appear to require families to cite a particular religious tradition or teaching. And the Catholic Church in West Virginia is already saying it will maintain the state’s current vaccination standards for the schools it maintains.
“For parents and guardians seeking an exemption,” he wrote, “while a statutory change to West Virginia’s compulsory vaccine statute did not pass in the 2025 Regular Legislative Session, my Executive Order 7-25 still stands and I have no intention of rescinding it.”
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The governor’s directive says the state Bureau for Public Health will process exemption requests the same way regardless of whether the student is enrolling in a state regulated childcare center or public, private or parochial school.
“While the government cannot compel private schools to accept exempted students without a statutory change, I urge all childcare centers, private schools and parochial schools in the State to honor the religious beliefs of students and not turn them away because of their strongly held objections to vaccines.”
Bishop Mark Brennan of the Wheeling-Catholic Diocese said the state’s 26 elementary and high schools associated with the Catholic Church would maintain the state’s current vaccination policies for roughly 5,000 enrolled students.
“We will maintain our vaccination policy in our Catholic schools for the good of the children and the staff,” Brennan said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
“We don’t want to lessen the benefits that our children receive by being vaccinated.”
Morrisey had called for legislation allowing West Virginia families to declare religious and philosophical exemptions to the state’s school vaccination requirements. However, on May 24, the House of Delegates voted 42-56 to kill a controversial vaccination exemptions bill.
“We think that the religious exemption should be honored by the schools. Ultimately, you’d like to see a law get in place, but this is shouldn’t be controversial,” Morrisey said this week on MetroNews Midday.
Almost all states except California, Mississippi, and West Virginia allow religious or philosophical exemptions for school vaccines, granting parents the ability to opt their children out of vaccinations based on sincerely held beliefs.
Right now, West Virginia students entering school for the first time must show proof of immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and hepatitis B unless properly medically exempted.
The Morrisey administration is now citing an executive order that the governor issued during his first week in office. Morrisey described the basis as the “Equal Protection for Religion Act,” which went into law in 2023.
That bill stipulated the government would not be able to “substantially burden” someone’s constitutional right to freedom of religion unless doing so “is essential to further a compelling governmental interest.” Much of the public debate at the time focused on how the policy might affect LGBTQ+ rights.
In this case, Morrisey is saying the concept should apply to mandatory vaccinations.
“There was a law passed. We interpreted the law, and that law argues favored strongly in favor of religious freedom, which is a hallmark for West Virginia,” Morrisey said on MetroNews Midday.
In his newly issued guidance, Morrisey wrote that parents and guardians may obtain an exemption by sending a signed letter to VaccineExemption@wv.gov, which he characterized as a dedicated email account the Bureau of Public Health established for receiving and processing vaccination requests.
The email should include:
- Name and birth date of the student seeking a religious exemption
- Name of the parent or guardian of the student
- Name of the school where the student will be enrolled
- Mailing address of the parent/guardian of the student
The Bureau for Public Health would then provide a letter to the parent or guardian notifying them whether the requested exemption is granted, and a copy of the exemption letter will be provided to the school that was identified in the initial letter.
Going forward, Morrisey wrote, exemptions will be granted on a school year basis — so parents who received an exemption one year should renew their request for the next year if they want to maintain it.
The governor’s letter directs public school officials to honor religious or philosophical exemptions that have been granted.
Morrisey wrote that he is “calling on the State Superintendent of Schools and county boards of education in this state to work with the Bureau for Public Health to ensure the religious rights of public-school students are protected and that those students are not denied access to public education because of their religious objections to compulsory vaccination.”
Bishop Brennan, on statewide radio, appealed to the state to not interfere with the schools maintained by the Catholic Church.
“If the government tries to impose upon us a particular lessening of the vaccination protocols that we have, they’re really interfering with our right to run our schools the way we we think they should be run, the way we should operate them. It’s a matter of religious freedom there, and they don’t really don’t have the right to interfere with that,” he said.
“Because why do we call for the strong vaccination policy? It’s an application of ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ — protect people, especially children who need more protection than adults do. So, we will hold to our vaccination policy, no matter what the government decides to do.”