Bill to End Advances on Personal Vaccine Exemptions

OLYMPIA, Wash – A bill to end the "personal or philosophical" exemption used by Washington parents to remove their school-aged children from the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine advanced to Olympia.

The House Health and Wellness Committee today approved Bill 1638 on the House, which has a vote of 10 to 5. It could be put to a vote in front of the House of Commons. Room in the coming weeks.

The vote comes as Washington faces a measles outbreak that has sickened at least 54 people in the state and led Governor Jay Inslee to declare the state of emergency.

Health officials have reported at least 54 known cases in the state of Washington and four in Oregon. Most of Washington's cases are concentrated in Clark County, just north of Portland, Oregon. The measure is sponsored by a legislator from this region, Republican Paul Harris of Vancouver.

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