California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law Tuesday which requires all children wishing to attend public or private school receive full vaccination regardless of their parent’s personal or religious beliefs.
This law comes after a measles outbreak in mid-April in which 136 people were infected with the disease. The bill now requires un-vaccinated children to attend home school.
California joins two states, Mississippi and West Virginia, that only permit medical exemptions as valid reasons to avoid vaccinations.
While two-thirds of Californians believe unvaccinated children should not be allowed to attend public school, opposition to the law has been strong, opponents see the law as taking away parental rights.
“We do not have the right, nor should we have the power, to take away a parent’s right to choose,” said Assemblyman Devon Mathis, R-Visalia.
Proponents, though, see this as a necessary step, “Do we wait until we have a full-fledged crisis to protect the most vulnerable?,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, as she presented the bill.
The law was endorsed by multiple medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics.