State lawmakers Monday considered two bills that would scale back vaccine requirements. One, LD 727, would remove vaccination requirements for children to attend school. Another, LD 174, would restore religious exemptions for school age children and health care workers.
The Maine legislature eliminated religious exemptions for vaccinations in 2019, and voters overwhelming supported the change in a referendum the following year.
But Dawn Murray, who has five daughters, told lawmakers on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee that the law unfairly excludes children from school.
"Our family has been shunned and ostracized from both community and society simply because of our beliefs," she said. "In a world that promotes the acceptance of all differences, my children are being denied the same opportunities as others in Maine."
Several medical providers, however, told lawmakers that weakening vaccine requirements will put children in harm's way.
Dr. Joe Anderson, advocacy chair of the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, cited the current measles outbreak in the U.S. and the deaths of two unvaccinated children. Anderson said Maine is one of just four states that has increased measles vaccination rates since before the pandemic.
"This is no coincidence," he said. "It's the result of strong, science-based policy."
Last year, more than 95% of school-aged children in Maine were vaccinated. It's the first time the state has achieved herd immunity in more than a decade.
