Despite measles outbreak, legislation pushing Wisconsin parents to vaccinate children going nowhere

Molly Beck
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - As the nation faces the largest outbreak of measles in 27 years, a bill that would make it more difficult to send children to school without vaccinations likely won't make it through Wisconsin's Legislature.

It's the second time legislation aiming to eliminate parents' ability to waive vaccination requirements on the basis of their personal beliefs hasn't gained enough support among state lawmakers.

Rep. Chuck Wichgers, R-Muskego, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he won't schedule a public hearing on the bill to avoid putting new rules on parents' medical decisions for their children. 

Wichgers, who leads the committee where the bill is assigned, said he "supports a parent's right to decide when and how their children should receive treatment."

The decision to stall the bill comes after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, also said that while he supports vaccinations, he doesn't support mandating them. 

"Would I go out and testify and say that vaccination is the way that Wisconsin parents should go? Yes, I would. But I also think it’s not the role of government to dictate a decision like that for their kids," he said in May. "But it should be something we strongly support.”

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, also hasn't shown support for the bill. Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, said he would sign the bill should it get to his desk.

Since January, 1,044 cases of measles have been confirmed in 28 states — the highest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1992 — and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Cases of measles have been found in three of the four states that border Wisconsin — Illinois, Iowa and Michigan.

With more than 11,000 students in Milwaukee alone who are not fully vaccinated, doctors say the state's largest city is at risk for an outbreak. 

Nearly 15% of students attended public schools in the last school year without all necessary vaccinations against such viruses. That means there could be too few vaccinated students within the district's boundaries to create what's known as herd immunity, which prevents newborn babies, unvaccinated children or adults in poor health from contracting diseases that could disable or kill them.

"There are sadly many individuals who cannot be immunized for medical reasons, or may not develop full immunity after vaccination," said James Conway, a doctor who specializes in pediatric infectious diseases and associate director for health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. "They deserve to be able to attend and benefit from school in a safe manner, and should not be placed at risk when prevention is readily available."

Conway said he remains hopeful that "common sense and fairness" will prevail at some point.  

Wisconsin is one of 17 states that allow parents to withhold vaccines based on personal beliefs. Parents also may waive vaccination requirements for religious and medical reasons.

New York lawmakers earlier this month eliminated the state's religious exemption, prompting other states to reconsider whether to require parents to seek the vaccination if they want children to attend school. 

Parents against the bill said it infringed on their guaranteed right to exercise their religion.

“People came to this country to get away from exactly this kind of stuff,” said Stan Yung, a Russian Orthodox attorney and father, according to the Associated Press.

Democrats who passed the bill said religious beliefs about vaccines shouldn’t supersede the danger large groups of unvaccinated children pose in a school community. 

“If you choose to not vaccinate your child, therefore potentially endangering other children ... then you’re the one choosing not to send your children to school," said New York state Rep. Jeffrey Dinowitz, the bill’s author.

You can find out who your legislators are and how to contact them here.

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.