BECKLEY, W.Va. — A West Virginia circuit court judge permanently blocked the state's policy refusing to grant religious exemptions to its policy of mandatory childhood vaccinations for public school entry.

In an order issued Wednesday, Raleigh County Circuit Court Judge Michael E. Froble ruled that the West Virginia Board of Education’s policy against religious accommodations to the Compulsory Vaccination Law violates the state’s 2023 Equal Protection for Religion Act.

The ruling permanently enjoins the WVBE and the Raleigh County Board of Education — including their members and Superintendent Michele Blatt and Serena Starcher, respectively — from enforcing the CVL against the named plaintiffs, their minor children and a statewide class of others.

The court specifically ordered that the

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