religious exemption vaccine sample letter massachusetts

“One of the legal standards for exemption is that religion not be singled out, when the law is a general one and not a burden that goes to the heart of religion, as is the case here with vaccinations.” “As a First Amendment religious liberties issue, too, it seems wrong,” Stein says. “As a public health matter, allowing religious exemptions for mandatory vaccinations is problematic-it makes all the kids and teachers vulnerable,” says Michael Stein, a professor and chair of health law, policy, and management at the BU School of Public Health. Should lawmakers and Governor Maura Healy ultimately approve the idea-some conservative groups are opposed-Massachusetts would become just the seventh state to disallow religious exemptions to vaccines. The legislature’s joint public health committee issued a favorable report on his bill last year, Vargas says, adding that future legislative action remains unscheduled. Anti-vaccine parents without medical exemptions could either agree to vaccinate or else choose “nontraditional” education such as homeschooling, Vargas says. Vargas’ bill would retain medical exemptions for students who cannot be vaccinated because of factors such as allergies or compromised immune systems. Many of the concerns we’ve heard are based on misinformation.” “This is a violation of the law-we do not allow personal belief exemptions in Massachusetts.

“Many people have testified, stating that they use religious exemptions because of personal beliefs about vaccine safety,” he says. His renewed effort comes, he says, after many religious exemption seekers have copped to using religion as a fig leaf. Vargas (CAS’15) didn’t succeed in 2019, but four years and one pandemic later, the Democrat from Haverhill is going after religious opt-outs again. But no major religion opposes vaccination, and now some schools’ vaccination rates fall short of what’s needed to shield against contagious diseases. Most people seeking the exemption do so for personal, not religious, beefs with vaccines, which is illegal, Vargas says. The commonwealth requires students-K-12 and college, public and private-to be vaccinated against chicken pox, hepatitis B, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, and meningitis. A national measles outbreak in 2019, spread by unvaccinated Americans, spurred the Massachusetts state representative (D-3rd Essex) to propose abolishing the state’s religious exemption for school vaccinations. Anti-vaxxers first blipped Andy Vargas’ radar the year before COVID-19 reached US shores.

Religious exemption vaccine sample letter massachusetts