ALL Children Can Qualify for the Religious Vaccine Exemptio
December 10 2000
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There are, I believe, 19 states that currently allow
a philosophical objection to vaccinations for school admission. Thanks
to the incredible groups like the National
Vaccine Information Center, it is likely more states may be added.
Texas is likely to make the total 20 in the near future.
However, 48
states (all but Mississippi and West Virginia) allow for a
religious exemption. There has been a supreme court ruling on this issue
which provides broad interpretation of the meaning of religious exemption.
A parent's religious "beliefs" are sufficient to qualify for
the religious exemption. The "belief" is defined as a faith
that occupies a place in their lives parallel to that held by the orthodox
belief in God or any sincere religious beliefs which are based upon a
power or being to which all else is subordinate and on which all else
is ultimately dependent
They qualify if they believe that not giving the vaccines is what they
must do to follow God's will for them in fulfilling their role as responsible
parents. Their child's immune system is a creation of God and that God
has given their child and that to vaccinate would violate their faith
in what God created.
The parents do NOT
have to be part of a recognized religious organization. You don't have
to join any church, you can be any religion at all. But if they are a
part of an established religion (Catholic, Protestant, Islam, etc.) they
can still have their own perceptions of what it means to follow God's
will which may be counter to what that organization states.
The case is established with legal precedent at the US
Supreme Court level. (United States Supreme Court in Sharon
Levy vs. Northcourt cases)
The important rule here is that if a school district
denies religious exemption they are violating your federally protected
civil rights under the first amendment by what is called state action
and under federal law you are entitle to money damages.
You can review one of the cases that helped set
this law by clicking
here.
James Filenbaum, Attorney
at Law, Presented
at the 2nd International Vaccine Conference