The number of children who have non-medical exemptions for vaccination due to “reasons of conscience” totals approximately 56,000 in the state, up five-fold from 10,000 recorded a decade prior. Increasingly, the anti-vaccination movement had become political, campaigning “heavily against anyone that they think stands in the way of their, I believe anti-science, anti-vaccine agenda,” said Texas House of Representatives member Sarah Davis, a Republican, according to the report.
Rep. Davis also noted that legislation regarding vaccine requirement, even less stringent ones, did not advance in the house.
One reason for the lack of progress is that many feel the state should not mandate vaccinations, whether they believe in vaccination or not.
“The state does not own our children,” said state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, also a Republican, according to the report. “Parents are the ones that are tasked with making those decisions.”
The CDC confirmed 127 measles cases this year, as of Feb. 14, which surpassed the annual total for both 2016 and 2017.
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