WHEELING – West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Friday his executive order providing religious and philosophical exemptions to required vaccines for school children “still stands,” and he has “no intention of rescinding it.”

Morrisey issued updated guidelines Friday to families wanting to seek religious exemptions to vaccinations.

In his statement Friday, Morrisey acknowledged legislation establishing religious or philosophical exemptions to vaccines was not passed during the regular Legislative session earlier this year.

But he said an executive order on the matter he issued after taking office in January “still stands, and I have no intention of rescinding it.”

“I am calling on the State Superintendent of Schools and the county boards of education in this state to work with the Bureau for Public Health to ensure that religious rights of students are protected,” Morrisey stated. “Students will not be denied access to public education because of their religious objections to compulsory vaccination.”

This move came after State School Superintendent Michele Blatt last week issued her own memorandum on the issue, which she later rescinded.

“With the 2025 Legislative session behind us, it is time to consider the status of the religious exemption vaccine issue,” Blatt stated. “While it is our understanding (the Department of Health) intends to continue to issue non-enforcement letters under the Governor’s Executive Order to parents seeking religious exemptions, we are faced with the fact that state law has not been changed by the Legislature and there is no religious exemption provided for in West Virginia law.”

Blatt made an about-face on that memorandum later on the day she issued it.

“At the Governor’s request, I am rescinding the memo I sent earlier today regarding vaccine exemptions,” Blatt wrote. “We are working collaboratively with the Governor’s office to issue clear guidance to counties on how to comply with Executive Order 7-25. The Governor’s office has informed me that the West Virginia Department of Health will continue to review and grant religious exemptions to compulsory school vaccine requirements, and counties should honor those exemption requests that have been duly granted.”

Morrisey’s explained in his Friday letter that his executive order is based on the free exercise of religion guarantees of the United States and West Virginia Constitutions and the Equal Protection for Religion Act of 2023 (EPRA), which prohibits government action that substantially burdens a person’s exercise of religion.

The EPRA applies equally to the state and “its political subdivisions,” and it “leaves no doubt about its primacy” over other conflicting state statutes, according to Morrisey. State and county officials are therefore bound to respect students’ exercise of religion when enforcing the state’s vaccine requirements, he asserts.

The process of obtaining a religious or philosophical exemption for vaccinations begins with a parent or guarding providing a signed letter to the Bureau for Public Health at VaccineExemption@wv.gov and providing the following information:

– Name and date of birth of student requesting religious exemption

– Name of parent/guardian of student

– Name of the school in which parent/guardian intends to enroll their student

– Mailing address of parent/guardian of student.

The Bureau for Public Health will provide a letter to the parent or guardian notifying them if the request is granted, and a copy of the exemption letter also will be provided to the school noted in the letter.

Parents who received an exemption for the 2024-25 school year will need to renew their request for an exemption for the 2025-26 school year so that the Bureau of Public Health can maintain an accurate record of the exempt students for each school year, according to Morrisey.

Meanwhile, schools are advised to honor these approved exemptions, and that the student “be allowed to attend virtual and in-person classes without receiving the compulsory vaccines from which the student is exempt.”

Morrisey in his letter mentioned that government cannot compel private schools to accept exempt students without a statutory change, but urged all childcare centers and private and parochial schools in West Virginia to “honor the religious beliefs of their students and not turn them away because of their strongly held objections to vaccines.”

Violations of EPRA can be challenged through legal suits for declaratory and injunctive relief, Morrisey added. If it is found that a student’s free exercise rights have been violated, they and their families may be able to recover attorney’s fees and costs.

Similar suits have already been filed in the state, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia already has found it likely the state’s compulsory vaccine laws are “not sufficiently … tailored to satisfy Constitutional safeguard,” he continued.

According to information obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by West Virginia Watch, the Department of Health had issued 186 vaccine exemption requests since the end of March – more than three times the number of medical exemptions granted in 2023 alone, according to department reports.

(Reporter Steven Allen Adams contributed to this story.)