AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine legislative committee endorsed a bill Friday that seeks to bolster vaccination rates among schoolchildren but lawmakers balked at an effort to prohibit parents from using the philosophical exemption to send their unvaccinated kids to school.

The Health and Human Services Committee voted 9-3 in support of Democratic Rep. Linda Sanborn’s measure, which would require parents to consult with their doctor and get a form signed if, for personal reasons, they oppose vaccinating their children and want to use the exemption. But the committee unanimously rejected another bill to remove the exemption, which even its supporters have acknowledged is probably not politically viable.

Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration opposes both bills, which are likely to also face resistance from GOP lawmakers, who control the Senate.

Sanborn’s proposal is strongly supported by members of Maine’s medical community, who told lawmakers this month that the state’s high vaccine opt-out rate is a public health risk. Maine’s opt-out rate of more than 5 percent was the fifth highest in the country during the 2013-2014 school year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Committee co-chair Sen. Eric Brakey, who’s among the opponents, said that while parents would still be able to opt out for personal reasons, Sanborn’s bill goes too far.

“I think that a repeated refrain we heard in the public testimony on this that resonated with me is this idea that where there is risk there must be choice,” the Republican from Auburn said. “I think this begins to encroach on that area of choice for parents … about what goes into their children’s bodies.”

Maine allows parents to opt out of vaccines for medical and religious reasons ”“ in addition to personal reasons ”“ but the philosophical exemption is by far the most widely used.

Democratic Rep. Drew Gattine, who chairs the committee with Brakey and supports the bill, said he’s willing to accept some limits on personal choice in instances when the safety of other children is at stake.

“The fact of the matter is we don’t have these communicable diseases running rampant in our society anymore and nobody wants to see that come back,” said Gattine, who’s from Westbrook. “And I think that we have to put some protections in place to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”