A Statehouse hearing Thursday afternoon is likely the last chance New Jersey residents will get to tell elected officials what they think about a bill that would repeal the religious exemption that has enabled thousands of children avoid vaccinations required to attend school.

The state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the legislation, (A3818), which, if enacted, would make New Jersey the sixth state to eliminate religion or “personal beliefs” exemptions to vaccines.

The bill gained steam after an outbreak of about a dozen measles cases in Ocean County in the first half of 2019 raised concern about the growing number of families who distrust and refuse vaccines. There have been 19 confirmed cases of measles this year in New Jersey, and 1,276 nationwide.

State Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, one of the bill’s sponsors and health committee chairman, said it is time New Jersey was more proactive about protecting children’s public health.

“I understand the passion to control what children eat, drink and put into their bodies. I get it as a parent. But there aren’t side effects for the vast majority of children, and the public health benefits significantly outweighs the risk, which is infinitesimal,” Vitale said.

The number of religious exemptions climbed from 1,641 students in the 2005-06 academic year to 13,987, or 2.6% of students enrolled in the 2018-19 school year, according to the state Department of Education.. The number of religious exemptions is twice as high in Sussex County (5%) and 4.6% each in Monmouth and Hunterdon counties.

The hearing is the last one before the bill — if approved Thursday — goes to the full state Senate and Assembly, where the public is not permitted to speak. The state Assembly avoided a public hearing in January when it took an existing piece of legislation that would have made it harder to qualify for a religious exemption and amended it during a voting session to abolish the exemption entirely.

Hundreds of parents, resentful over what they see as a government intrusion and a violation of their constitutional rights, plan to attend the hearing for a chance to testify, said Stephanie Locricchio of Branchburg. She said she’s been involved with an effort for the past week to bombard legislators’ offices with calls and emails demanding they vote no.

“This group of people are steadfast in their beliefs...who don’t feel comfortable injecting fetal tissue in their child’s bodies," said Locricchio, the mother of a 12-year-old son who received vaccines when he younger, but resented how her pediatrician demeaned her when she asked questions.

Embryonic tissue extracted from aborted fetuses in the 1960s is used to make the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to medical journals.

Locricchio said she moved from New York when it eliminated the religious exemption to vaccines, and she’s prepared to leave New Jersey, too. “Telling people (they must vaccinate) if you want an education for your kid is like putting a gun to your head," she said.

A change in the law in 2008 made it fairly easy for parents and guardians to request an exemption from legally mandated vaccinations. They are required to write a letter to the school district stating that vaccines violate their religious beliefs, but they are not required to explain how.

If the law changes, children may still qualify for medical exemptions if their doctors attest they have compromised immune systems. There are 1,137 students with medical exemptions, state data say.

State Sen. Michael Doherty, R-Warren, said his district office has been inundated with calls and emails from residents who oppose the bill, and he can understand why.

“Both the United States and New Jersey constitutions guarantee the protection of religious freedoms, and this partisan legislation is a blatant violation of the constitutional rights of New Jerseyans," Doherty said. “Garden state parents should not have to defend the tenets of their religion to the New Jersey government.”

Lawmakers have attempted to tighten the exemption rules for seven years with no success.

A wide array of medical representatives and other pro-vaccine organizations are also expected to testify at the hearing, including the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians; the New Jersey chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; the New Jersey Pharmacists Association; and the March of Dimes.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.