A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to clarify the applicability of medical and religious vaccine exemptions to the north carolina emergency management act.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 130A‑156 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑156.  Medical exemption.
The Commission for Public Health shall adopt by rule medical contraindications to immunizations required by this Chapter or Chapter 166A of the General Statutes. If a physician licensed to practice medicine in this State certifies that a required immunization is or may be detrimental to a person's health due to the presence of one of the contraindications adopted by the Commission, the person is not required to receive the specified immunization as long as the contraindication persists. The State Health Director may, upon request by a physician licensed to practice medicine in this State, grant a medical exemption to a required immunization for a contraindication not on the list adopted by the Commission."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 130A‑157 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A‑157.  Religious exemption.
If the bona fide religious beliefs of an adult or the parent, guardian or person in loco parentis of a child are contrary to the immunization requirements contained in this Chapter or Chapter 166A of the General Statutes, the adult or the child shall be exempt from the requirements. Upon submission of a written statement of the bona fide religious beliefs and opposition to the immunization requirements, the person may attend the college, university, school or facility without presenting a certificate of immunization."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2011.