NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- It appears that a bill in New Jersey that would remove religion as a reason not to vaccinate children does have enough votes to pass.
After about 1,000 protesters raised their voices outside of the New Jersey statehouse, the state Senate struck a deal to end a religious exemption for vaccinating children, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
Republican legislator Declan O’Scanlon became the last vote needed for it to pass and joined with Democrats after amendments were added, Adams reported.
The bill was reportedly one vote short of passing in December, after being overwhelmingly approved by the state Assembly.
The measure would have only allowed exceptions for specific medical conditions.
It came in the wake of the largest measles outbreak in the United States since the vaccine became widely available in the 1960s.
All 50 states require specified vaccines for students, although exemptions vary from state to state.
Currently, the only states that do not allow any religious or philosophical exemptions are California, Maine, Mississippi, West Virginia and New York - New York having done away with it last year.
Many lawmakers now acknowledge the decision not to vaccinate is philosophical - not religious, Adams reported.
No major religion has doctrine against vaccines, only Christian Scientists, Adams reported.