The effort was spearheaded by Senator Cliff Hite (R, Findlay), who lost a niece to meningitis 16 years ago. Today, I learned that 12 of 33 members co-sponsored the bill, a bad thing for those who oppose this legislation. It is assumed that lay people will vote to pass the bill, with little opposition.

Even though Ohio has a philosophical exemption, there is no guarantee that this right to refuse will remain intact. With 110 bills submitted in 36 states attacking a parent's right to refuse, and with the recent announcement that Ohio nearly the least vaccinated state in the Union, adding a vaccine to the schedule that could become mandatory in the future is dangerous. In addition, most parents – and even most pediatricians – still do not know that in Ohio, we have a right to refuse.

I contacted the Ohio Department of Health, requesting stats on the number of cases of meningitis in Ohio over the last two years. They were quickly accommodating. In 2013 and 2014, there were 22 cases of meningitis in Ohio, with only 2 cases in children aged 5 to 19, hardly developing a need to inject children with yet another vaccine. Adding the meningitis vaccine to the schedule is all risk, no benefit.