Parents in Maryland may arrange for their children to be excused from vaccination requirements for medical or religious reasons, but not for philosophical reasons.
"In the midst of a national debate over vaccination requirements, Maryland policy seems to straddle the line between those who advocate for parent choice and those who argue that immunizations should be mandatory as a matter of public health,"
the Maryland Daily Record said of the state’s exemption laws.
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While all 50 states mandate children be immunized against certain diseases in order to enroll in school, each state allows exemptions to those requirements for medical reasons while almost all of them permit exemptions for religious reasons,
according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In addition, the 20 states allow philosophical exemptions.
Maryland grants medical exemptions only when the parent or guardian acquires "written documentation from a licensed physician or authorized health care provider that certifies that immunization against a particular disease may be detrimental to the child’s health,"
said the Maryland Coalition for Vaccine Choice. Religious exemptions may occur only when the parent or guardian objects because of religious beliefs. The organization said online it was actively working to broaden Maryland’s laws to make the philosophical exemption an option.
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