LANSING –Parents have the right to request an exemption from vaccinating their children for religious and other reasons, Michigan’s attorney general has ruled.

But a local health department also can require parents to use a specific form to request an exemption, Mike Cox added.

Suzanne Waltman, founder and president of Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines (MOM), said local health departments have posed the biggest problem for parents seeking exemptions.

She said the attorney general’s affirmation of parental rights is important, but he organization still disagrees with his interpretation about use of official forms.

“We believe it will be more frustrating and difficult for parents who research the immunization issue thoroughly, make an informed decision, then turn in a perfectly acceptable waiver form to only have it denied by the local health department because it’s not on their piece of paper,” said Waltman, a St. Clair Shores resident.

The Macomb County Health Department has been hard on parents who want to exempt their children, Waltman said.

“They want a 100 percent vaccination rate, no matter how they can achieve it,” she said.

The Macomb County Health Department doesn’t deny justified exemption requests, but wants parents to sign the county’s waiver so parents understand the risks of their decisions, said Patrick McLogan, its director of health promotion and disease control.

Rep. Kim Meltzer, R-Clinton Township, said she asked Cox for an opinion after the county agency rejected a constituent’s immunization waiver form in 2005.

Meltzer said she wanted to know how much authority local health departments have when reviewing waiver forms.

Local health departments have the authority to step in because they have a responsibility to prevent disease and promote public health, Meltzer said.

Waltman said the constituent belongs to MOM and was fighting with the health department because it didn’t like his philosophical objections. He wanted to use MOM’s waiver form.

Waltman said parents must explain why they’re objecting to vaccinations.

They can object for religious, philosophical and medical reasons, McLogan said.

“It’s your choice—you shouldn’t have to explain,” Waltman said.

McLogan said the county department honors deeply held personal objections to vaccinations, but parents must state a reason.

“We ask for a reason because it is important to know the reason during a disease outbreak,” he said.

Parents are required to provide vaccination records or approved waiver applications when registering their children in school or in a preschool program.

McLogan said any child who enters school for the first time must have one dose of diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis, one dose of the polio vaccine, one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, and one dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.

Without proper documentation, parents can’t register their children.

Waltman who started the Troy-based group in 1994, said she wanted to protect parents’ rights to make informed decisions.