Some U.S. states began revising opt-out options for vaccines after a nationwide measles outbreak in January 2015 began with visitors at Disneyland in Southern California.
At least a dozen states introduced bills early in the year to clarify whether and how parents can opt out of required childhood inoculations against measles and other viral diseases such as mumps, rubella, and chickenpox.
Most — though not all — of the bills seek to limit philosophical or religious exemptions, and make avoiding vaccinations more difficult.
VOTE NOW: Should Parents Have the Freedom Not to Vaccinate Their Children?
Here is what has happened in key states.
1. California — In the state at the center of the 2015 measles outbreak, a bill ending the personal belief exemption for parents who object to shots for their kids cleared a legislative committee in June and will be debated by the full Assembly.
2. Vermont — In May 2015, Vermont became the first state to repeal its philosophical exemption to vaccinating schoolchildren, leaving 19 states with such exemptions intact. Another New England state, Maine, killed a bill similar to Vermont's and retained a philosophical opt-out provision.
3. New Jersey — Both houses of the state legislature are poised to take up a bill that would make religious exemptions against vaccination harder to claim, after the legislation cleared House and Senate committees.
4. Illinois — Under a bill passed by the legislature in May that was awaiting the governor's signature, parents seeking a religious exemption to child inoculations would have to fill out a formal request and have it signed and notarized by a religious official.
5-6. Mississippi, West Virginia — Neither state allows a religious or philosophical exemption for vaccination.
URGENT: Should States Be Allowed to Make Health Decisions for Your Children?
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