HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – A bill sponsored by Representative Ed Hill (R-Havre) that would have required schools to allow children that have received homeopathic treatments instead of vaccinations to attend has been voted down on the State House floor.
On second reading Thursday, the Montana House defeated the bill by a vote of 57-43, effectively killing it. This came after the bill narrowly cleared the House Education Committee by a 9-8 vote on Monday.
In Committee, the only proponent of the bill was Certified Homeopath Jenna Dodge of Bozeman, who said that homeoprophylaxis was successfully used in Cuba in 2007 to curb an outbreak.
10 opponents spoke against the bill in Committee, including representatives from the Montana School Board Association, the Montana Nurses Association, the Rural Education Association, and the Department of Public Health and Human Services.
In speaking in opposition to the bill, DPHHS Administrator Jim Murphy said homeopathic treatments are not substitutes for immunizations.
Hill could not be immediately reached for comment.
