The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee approved the bill (A3818) by a 6-4 vote Thursday.
Even before the hearing, the measure was listed on Monday’s agenda for action by the full 40-member body.
But hundreds of parents amassed outside the Statehouse in Trenton anyway.
Hundreds of sign-waving, child-toting parents queued up in the first-floor hallway waiting for space inside the committee room.
They said they were outraged by what they see as government intrusion in violation of their First Amendment right of religious freedom.
"Your right to practice religion freely does not include...exposing the community or a child to a communicable disease,” Weller said.
The boy’s mother informed him there is a child in his first-grade class who is not vaccinated for religious reasons. »