AUGUSTA — A bill designed to ensure parents have reliable, accurate information before deciding not to have their children vaccinated won a green light from lawmakers on the health committee.

The bill, LD 471, would require parents to consult with a doctor before claiming an exemption from state vaccine requirements for their children on “philosophical” grounds.

Parents still can decide not to have their children vaccinated, but only after a doctor signs off to confirm he or she provided information consistent with that offered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bill is designed to combat rampant misinformation about vaccines some fear has contributed to a recent increase in the number of Maine parents opting not to vaccinate.

The measure drew passionate testimony from the medical industry, civil libertarians, parents who oppose mandatory vaccination and families of sick people who rely on the immunization of others to keep their loved ones safe and healthy.

The Health and Human Services Committee voted 9-3 to recommend the full Legislature approve the bill.

“To me, this is primarily a public health issue,” said Rep. Drew Gattine, D-Westbrook, the House chairman of the committee and one of the bill’s supporters. “The vaccines that we require are designed not simply to protect the children vaccinated with them but to protect other children.”

Opposing the measure were Reps. Deborah Sanderson of Chelsea and Richard Malaby of Hancock, as well as Sen. Eric Brakey of Auburn, all Republicans. Sen. Earle McCormick, R-West Gardiner, was absent.

“A repeated refrain we heard in the public testimony on this that really resonated and stuck with me is when there’s risk, there must be choice,” Brakey said. “This bill begins to encroach on that choice, for parents to make a choice about what goes into their children’s bodies.”

The committee also unanimously voted against LD 606, a bill by Rep. Ralph Tucker, D-Brunswick, that would have eliminated the philosophical exemption entirely.

The committee also was unanimous in adopting an amended version of LD 1076. As originally drafted by a group opposed to mandatory vaccination, the bill would have created a new office within the Department of Health and Human Services to evaluate vaccine injury claims.

The committee struck that language completely, instead opting to require the state Department of Health and Human Services to provide links to the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which provides damages to people who suffer adverse reactions to vaccines.

The committee also will send a letter to the state’s congressional delegation, asking them to investigate the pharmaceutical industry’s blanket protection from liability when vaccines have bad side effects.

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