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Bill Summary · HB 380

Summary — HB 380: Conscientious Objections to Vaccine Mandates (North Carolina, 2025)

Status: Introduced / Passed 1st Reading (filed Nov 12, 2024; referred to Health → Judiciary 2). Effective date: when enacted; provisions apply to public K–12 schools and to colleges/universities beginning with the 2026–2027 school/academic year.

Main purpose

HB 380 creates an explicit “conscientious objection” exemption to North Carolina’s student immunization requirements, parallel to existing medical and religious exemptions, and updates school and higher‑education immunization reporting to track these exemptions.

Key provisions

  • Adds “conscientious objection” alongside religious and medical exemptions in several statutes:
    • Amends G.S. 130A‑155(c) (school immunization reporting) and G.S. 130A‑155.1(c) (college/university immunization reporting) to require annual reports to the Department of Health that include the number of students who received medical exemptions and the number who received religious or conscientious objection exemptions.
    • Revises G.S. 130A‑157 to permit exemptions where an adult or a child’s parent/guardian has “bona fide religious beliefs or reasons of conscience” contrary to the immunization requirements. Upon submission of a written statement asserting those bona fide beliefs or reasons of conscience, the person may attend school or college without presenting an immunization certificate.
    • Amends G.S. 115C‑76.25(a) (parental legal rights regarding education) to list the right to seek medical, religious, or conscientious objection exemptions consistent with the referenced statutes.
  • Mechanism: exemption is obtained by submission of a written statement asserting bona fide religious beliefs or reasons of conscience (no additional procedural requirements specified in the text provided).

Who is affected

  • Students (K–12 and college) and their parents/guardians seeking to opt out of required immunizations on conscientious grounds.
  • Public K–12 schools, child care facilities, and institutions of higher education responsible for collecting exemption statements and filing expanded immunization reports.
  • Department of Health (receives and compiles the updated reports).
  • Public‑health monitoring and school immunization compliance systems.

Procedural / timeline notes

  • The act takes effect upon enactment but the new exemption and reporting requirements apply beginning with the 2026–2027 school and academic year.
  • Because the bill adds a new exemption category and reporting line items, schools and colleges will need to implement administrative procedures to collect written statements and to report counts to the Department of Health.

Potential impacts (practical considerations)

  • Administrative: additional recordkeeping and reporting by schools and postsecondary institutions.
  • Public health: expansion of nonmedical exemptions may affect vaccination coverage and herd immunity for vaccine‑preventable diseases; actual impact depends on how many families use the new exemption.
  • Legal/operational: the statute relies on a written statement of “bona fide” beliefs; implementation may raise questions about review standards and documentation.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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