Momentum grows for closing gaps in US vaccine requirements

Joining thousands gathered outside the State Capitol, opponents of a bill to repeal Connecticut's religious exemption for required school vaccinations marches down Capitol Avenue before the State Senate voted on legislation Tuesday in Hartford, Conn. (Mark Mirko/Hartford Courant via AP)

HARTFORD, Conn. — A law adopted this week in Connecticut adds momentum to the push to strengthen vaccination requirements for schoolchildren, but efforts to give families more leeway are brewing in statehouses around the country in debates that go back more than a century.