Bill that would make vaccine exemptions easier advances in the Texas House

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A Republican-backed bill that could make vaccination exemptions easier to obtain in Texas made it out of the House Public Health Committee on Thursday in a 7-6 vote along party lines.

If House Bill 1586, authored by state Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, is approved by both chambers of the Legislature, the state’s current exemption form would be downloadable as a pdf, bypassing the need to contact the Texas Department of State Health Services directly and having a form sent to an applicant’s home address.

“This bill is about government efficiency,” Hull said on Monday when she laid out the details before the committee. Several health professionals testified against the bill, citing the state’s current measles outbreak in West Texas as evidence that falling vaccination rates put the entire state at greater risk for infections and disease.

Data shows a consistent rise in interest in obtaining exemptions to vaccines since 2003, when then-state Sen. Craig Estes offered a measure that allowed Texans to claim a conscientious exemption in addition to established exemptions based on medical and religious reasons.

Since 2018, the requests to the Texas state health agency for an exemption form have doubled from 45,900 to more than 93,000 in 2024. All requests for exemptions are granted.

“The passage of HB 1586 … marks a major milestone for Texans, signaling that more legislators have begun to recognize that vaccine choice rights are inherent and not given by the government,” said Rebecca Hardy, president of Texans for Vaccine Choice, which supported the bill.

Jackie Schlegel, executive director of Texans For Medical Freedom also praised the bill’s passage. “Texans are taking their freedom back from the government,” she said.

Vaccination proponents expressed frustration of the committee’s passage of the bill.

“Once again the legislature is ignoring the will of their constituents,” said Terri Burke, executive director of The Immunization Partnership, a nonprofit group that advocates for vaccination access and education. More people testified against this bill in committee than testified for it and 72 percent of the written comments opposed it. So who are these people representing?”

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