Washington lawmakers consider scaling back vaccine exemptions amid measles outbreak

Washington lawmakers are considering a bill today that would ban personal or philosophical exemptions to vaccinating school-age kids against measles, mumps, and rubella. The vote in the Washington House health committee today comes as the state grapples with a measles outbreak that has sickened dozens, many of whom were unvaccinated kids. The measure has scored the support of the state medical association and Gov. Jay Inslee. But it’s been met with fierce opposition from anti-vaccine activists, hundreds of whom protested at a hearing last week.

On a related note: Anti-vaccine ads that spread misinformation are circulating widely on Facebook — and they're targeting women over 25 who might be moms to young children, the Daily Beast’s Lachlan Markay reports. He analyzed data on seven Facebook pages that post and promote anti-vaccine messages and found they've been viewed millions of times since late last year.