The word “notwithstanding” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in the ongoing public debate over whether West Virginia’s religious freedom act applies to school vaccination laws.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s administration and lawyers for families seeking religious exemptions to school vaccination requirements have consistently cited West Virginia’s “Equal Protection for Religion Act,” which went into law in 2023.

The policy lays out the ability of individuals who believe their religious rights have been violated to seek a claim in court. The law says no state action may burden an individual’s exercise of religion unless it’s essential to furthering a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of achieving that.

They focus on one clause of the law to say religious freedo

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