Dem leader aims to end religious vax exemption

HARTFORD — House Majority Leader Matt Ritter vowed Wednesday that in the next 12 months the General Assembly will vote on whether to eliminate religious exemptions for vaccinations for school children.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure there is a vote,” Ritter said. “Everybody should be on the record for how they feel about this.”

It’s unclear if any legislation will be voted on this year because no legislation explicitly eliminates the religious exemption. That means they would have to use another unrelated bill as the vehicle and add new language on the floor. Ritter admitted it might be a discussion that carries over into next year.

The Children’s Committee passed a bill Tuesday that adds a disclaimer to the religious exemption form explaining that school nurses have the right to decline to sign a form, but Rep. Liz Linehan, D-Cheshire, has promised not to use that bill to eliminate religious exemptions.

But Ritter defended his position Wednesday.

“It’s not fair to a child with a compromised immune system to have to go to school with those children,” Ritter said referring to unvaccinated children. “You have to fight for those folks.”

He said they’re not saying a person shouldn’t have a strongly held religious belief that prevents them from getting a vaccination. He said it simply says they can’t enroll them in public school.

Supporters of the religious exemption lined the second floor of the state Capitol and gathered outside Ritter’s office Wednesday to voice their objections.

LeeAnn Ducat, founder of Informed Choice USA, said it’s not a “fad diet.” She said it’s “people realizing their rights are being stripped away.”

She said the crowd gathered outside Ritter’s office Wednesday were looking to “preserve our First Amendment rights.”

She said regardless of how anyone feels about the issue “state power stops at my skin.”

Elliott said the “pro-informed choice crowd” uses “pseudo-science,” to defend their positions on social media.

He said Connecticut can either wait like the Pacific Northwest did or it can take action like other states have taken.

“Do we want to wait until we have deaths and large scale outbreaks or do we want to solve the problem before it gets to Connecticut?” Elliott said.