According to the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), a nonprofit educational organization aiming to prevent vaccine injuries and deaths, all states have some type of vaccine exemption available.
Vaccine exemptions generally fall into three types: religious belief, medical, and philosophical/conscientious belief. The NVIC notes that some states may offer the possibility of an exemption based on proof of immunity to a disease.
Religious Belief Exemption: The religious exemption is for people who hold a sincere religious belief opposing vaccination to the extent it would infringe on their constitutional right to exercise their religious beliefs if the state mandated vaccination, the NVIC states.
Nearly all U.S. states allow a vaccine religious exemption except for California, Maine, New York, and West Virginia.
Requirements for religious exemptions can vary widely across the remaining 46 states. Examples of how religious exemptions may be defined and what may be required to obtain one could include:
- The exemption’s definition may be broadly defined to include philosophical, personal or conscientiously held beliefs not necessarily tied to an organized religion.
- Membership in an organized religion that has written tenets prohibiting invasive medical procedures such as vaccination.
- A signed affidavit from your pastor or spiritual advisor from the church you attend.
- Notarization of your signature on a religious exemption statement attesting to your sincerely held religious beliefs about vaccination.
In addition to state vaccine exemptions, individuals can request exemptions based on religious belief against (1) local and state governments using the First Amendment, State Constitution, and State Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and (2) federal government using the First Amendment and the Federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Liberty Counsel has assisted many people in obtaining vaccine religious exemptions for more than 25 years. While the state or an employer can ask questions to determine whether a person’s religious belief is sincere and not a sham, they cannot question the validity or correctness of religious beliefs or interpretations of Scriptures. Moreover, the religious inquiry is the individual’s religious belief, not the belief of the individual’s religious community or affiliation. For legal help regarding vaccine religious exemptions, visit Liberty Counsel’s website here.
Medical Exemptions: All 50 states allow medical exemptions to vaccination. In most cases, a medical doctor (M.D.) or doctor of osteopathy (D.O.) must write the exemption. These types of exemptions can be difficult to get as government agencies can decrease the scope of medical reasons for delaying or abstaining from vaccines. Most medical professionals follow the federal vaccine recommendations published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for what conditions warrant a medical exemption.
Philosophical, Conscientious, or Personal Belief Exemption: This exemption is for individuals who hold philosophical, personal, or conscientious objections to one or more vaccines. At this time16 states allow for these types of exemptions, such as Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “In the last decade, the childhood vaccination schedule from the Centers for Disease Control has ballooned to 73 doses of 15 vaccines before age 18. According to the government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, known as VAERS, there have been 2.6 million reports of vaccine injuries and deaths in the U.S. alone. As for mRNA injections, some pharmaceutical companies use aborted fetal cell lines in their development, manufacture, or testing. While state laws vary, religious, medical, or conscientious vaccine exemptions are legal ways to abstain from vaccination for those with concerns about the impact of vaccines on health, safety, and moral values.”
