CA SB 277

California SB 277 was a Democrat-sponsored bill in 2015 that removed the personal belief (including religious) objection to mandatory vaccination in schools and daycare centers. Gov. Jerry Brown signed this into law.

Afterwards, there has been an increase in medical exemptions from vaccination in California.

Litigation

• Royce v. Pan, No. 3:23-cv-02012-H-BLM, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48167, at *39 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 17, 2025) (after granting Defendants' motion to dismiss in 2024, in March 2025 this federal district court dismiss the challenge to SB 277 because "California has a legitimate interest in protecting the health and safety of students and the public at large, and SB 277's repeal of California's prior personal belief exemption is rationally related to furthering that interest. Because Plaintiffs fail to allege facts from which an inference can be drawn to hold otherwise, SB 277 survives rational basis review.").
• Doescher v. Pan, No. 2:23-cv-02995-KJM-JDP, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116640, at *57 (E.D. Cal. June 17, 2025) (dismissing a challenge to SB 277 because "unlike the laws and regulations that triggered strict scrutiny in Borsarge, Fox, Bacon, UnifySCC and other cases, California's school vaccine requirement does not permit state officials to make ad hoc, discretionary or unfair exceptions on a case-by-case basis. No allegations in the complaint show its practical consequences are at odds with the state's asserted interest of protecting the public health and safety.")