West Virginia governor axes DEI and enacts vaccine exemptions on first full day in office
Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia’s new chief executive, issued a series of executive orders that were aggressive on his first day. One of them allowed families to get religious exemptions for school vaccinations. This was a major departure in a state which has one of the strictest policies regarding vaccines.
A second order required the termination of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in state-run institutions. Morrisey believes this will protect West Virginians against racial and sexual discrimination, especially when certain groups are given “inappropriately” preferential treatment.
He said, “I believe the public deserves no less,” at a press conference at the Capitol. According to U.S. Census projections for 2024 the population of West Virginia is slightly less than 93% white. This makes it one of the least diverse states in America.
Under Donald Trump’s presidency, efforts to end DEI are expected to increase in Republican-led States. Trump has promised to eliminate the perceived “wokeness” of education. Some institutions of higher education have already closed diversity offices in Florida, Kentucky and North Carolina.
|
Morrisey announced the executive orders citing the conservative U.S. Supreme Court decision of 2023 that declared race could not be a factor for college admissions. Morrisey announced that his administration will be sending letters to cabinet officials and agency head asking them to review “potential DEI” within the state government.
He would not specify which DEI initiatives were in question, but said that they existed: “Before calling anyone out, I’d like to see changes made.”
West Virginia Democratic Party chair Mike Pushkin wasn’t impressed by the executive orders. He called them a “troubling” example of executive overreach, which “could hurt us for generations.”
Pushkin accused the Governor of using “divisive language aimed at dividing the people based on race”, adding that he thought the Governor was “trying not only to make laws but also to interpret them”.
He said that the newly-elected governor of West Virginia should remember that he is the governor of all of us. This includes people who may not share his beliefs or who do not look like him.
Morrisey stated that the role of the governor is to ensure the Constitution is “correctly interpreted and enforced in the right way”.
The vaccine executive orders overturns a policy that medical experts have long hailed as the best in the nation for protecting children. The state law mandates that children receive vaccinations against chickenpox and hepatitis B, as well as measles mumps diphtheria polio tetanus, rubella, whooping cough, mumps meningitis, diphtheria polio, hepatitis C, rubella tetanus, tetanus, polio and mumps before they start school. The state does NOT require COVID-19 vaccines.
West Virginia is part of the tiny minority of U.S. States that allows only medical exemptions to vaccinations.
This is also a radical departure for former West Virginia Governor and Republican U.S. Senator Jim Justice. Justice, a Republican who now serves in the Senate, vetoed last year a vaccination bill that was less comprehensive and passed by a Republican supermajority Legislature. The bill would have exempted some students attending nontraditional public schools and private schools from the vaccination requirement.
Justice, a public school girl’s basketball coach who became well-known across the nation during the COVID-19 epidemic for his provaccine stance said that he was obliged to listen to licensed medical professionals, who “overwhelmingly” opposed the legislation.
A faction of the Republican-controlled Legislature has tried for years to no avail to expand exemptions to the state’s school vaccination laws.
Morrisey served as West Virginia’s attorney general between 2013 and his inauguration as governor on Monday. He said that he believes the Equal Protection for Religion Act, a law passed by the State Legislature in 2023, should allow religious exemptions from vaccinations.
The law states that the government cannot “substantially burden someone’s constitutional rights to freedom of faith” unless they can prove that there is an “overriding interest” in restricting that right.
Morrisey stated that the law “has not been fully and properly implemented” since its passage.
Governor said that the process of applying for an exemption from vaccination, which is yet to be finalized, would likely require parents to explain their religious beliefs by writing to the Bureau of Public Health of the state. The governor said that he will also clarify to lawmakers who return to the Capitol next month for their 60-day sessions, that exemptions based on religious beliefs are allowed under the state vaccine statute.
According to data released by the federal government in October, U.S. kindergarten vaccine rates dropped in 2023. The proportion of children who were exempted rose to a record high.
In 2022, the percentage of children exempted by vaccine regulations was 3%. This has now risen to 3.3%. In the meantime, 92.7% (or 92,7 percent) of kindergarteners received their required vaccinations, which is slightly lower than in previous years.
Medical professionals believe that the 95% vaccination rate before the COVID-19 outbreak is the level of coverage that makes it unlikely for a single disease to cause a cluster or an outbreak.
West Virginia had previously one of the highest vaccination rate in the nation. In a recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on kindergarten vaccination exemptions, the state was cited as having the nation’s lowest exemption rate and the highest vaccination rates for children that age.
West Virginia, along with Mississippi is the U.S. State with the lowest health outcomes and life expectancy rates.
No Comments