CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WVDN) — Gov. Patrick Morrisey filed an amicus brief with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on Monday, seeking to uphold religious exemptions for school vaccination requirements.
The brief supports the state’s Equal Protection for Religion Act (EPRA) and a religious exemption process established by Morrisey through Executive Order 7-25. The move comes as the Governor’s office and the West Virginia Board of Education remain at odds over how the law should be applied in public schools.
The legal dispute centers on the EPRA, a 2023 law that prohibits the state government from placing a “substantial burden” on a person’s sincere religious exercise unless it can prove a compelling government interest and uses the least restrictive means to do so.
Upon taking office, Morrisey issued an executive order directing the Department of Health to create a process for families to obtain religious exemptions from mandatory childhood vaccinations. While the Department of Health began issuing these exemption letters, the West Virginia Board of Education instructed county school districts not to recognize them, maintaining that the state’s existing school vaccination laws remain the primary authority.
In the brief, Morrisey argues that the Board of Education’s refusal to honor the exemptions violates the EPRA. The Governor’s legal team contends that the board is treating religious objectors differently than other unvaccinated individuals permitted in schools, such as students with medical exemptions or adult staff members who are not subject to the same vaccination mandates.
“West Virginia law protects religious freedom, and that law must be followed,” Morrisey said in a statement. “Parents should not be forced to choose between their sincere religious beliefs and their child’s right to an education.”
The Governor further argued that the case is a matter of statutory compliance rather than a debate over the medical efficacy of vaccines.
The brief asks the state Supreme Court to affirm a lower court’s ruling that favored the exemption process. The court’s decision will likely determine the balance of authority between the Governor’s executive orders and the Board of Education’s oversight of public health policy within the school system.
