West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey has responded publicly to a recent lawsuit challenging his executive order that allows religious and philosophical exemptions from the state’s mandatory school vaccination program.
Speaking at a press conference Wednesday at the State Capitol, Morrisey insisted his order does not break state law but instead clarifies it based on new legislation passed in 2023.
“The executive order interprets the law passed by the Legislature,” Morrisey said. “You can’t just ignore the laws. There’s been a misunderstanding about what we’re doing.”
Last Friday, attorneys from ACLU-WV and Mountain State Justice filed a lawsuit on behalf of parents in Kanawha and Cabell counties. The suit asks the court to force the Governor’s Office to follow the existing mandatory immunization rules and to declare Morrisey’s executive order invalid.
Morrisey signed Executive Order 7-25 on January 14, using the 2023 Equal Protection for Religion Act as its foundation. This law protects people’s right to exercise their religion without excessive government limits.
The order sets up a simple process allowing parents to request religious or philosophical exemptions for school vaccine requirements, requiring only a written request.
West Virginia law requires children to show proof of vaccinations for diseases like measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and hepatitis B to attend public or private schools—unless they have a medical exemption.
Despite a failed bill last year that aimed to add religious and philosophical exemptions to vaccination rules, Morrisey’s executive order remains in place. The Governor’s Office later issued guidance for schools and parents on how to handle exemption requests.
Though the state Department of Education initially told superintendents to follow the vaccine law strictly, it withdrew that memo after pushback from Morrisey’s office.
Critics accuse the governor of ignoring state law, but Morrisey says that’s not true. He points to House Bill 3042, known as the Equal Protection for Religion Act, which says religious practices can’t be restricted more than similar activities that pose equal risk.
“When you apply that law to vaccination policy, this order was the natural result,” Morrisey explained. “We believe this interpretation is strong and will hold up in court.”
This executive order will be the first major test of HB 3042 in West Virginia. Morrisey hopes it will help protect religious freedoms in the future.
“Religious freedom laws have been ignored in the past,” he said. “That’s wrong. When you pass a law, you have to enforce it and give it real meaning.”
However, the Equal Protection for Religion Act requires that any government action limiting religious exercise meet a strict legal test called “compelling interest,” and courts have previously ruled that vaccination requirements meet that standard.
In their lawsuit, ACLU-WV and Mountain State Justice argue that Morrisey cannot suspend laws passed by the Legislature through an executive order.
Morrisey pushed back on those claims: “We’re not overruling laws. We’re interpreting religious freedom laws so they work with immunization laws. People are trying to misrepresent that because their arguments aren’t strong.”
According to education news outlet The 74, so far this school year, West Virginia has approved 330 religious or philosophical vaccine exemption requests, with another 35 already granted for the next year. For comparison, only 203 medical exemptions have been requested over the past decade.
