Federal appeals court upholds Connecticut law that eliminated religious vaccination exemption
1 year, 4 months ago

Federal appeals court upholds Connecticut law that eliminated religious vaccination exemption

Associated Press  

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the state’s longstanding religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities. “The legislature acted responsibly and well within its authority to protect the health of Connecticut families and stop the spread of preventable disease.” The plaintiffs, We the Patriots USA Inc. and others, had argued that Connecticut violated religious freedom protections by removing the exemption. “We fully intend to seek review of this decision in the United States Supreme Court, to obtain equal justice for all children — not only in Connecticut, but in every state in the nation,” Brian Festa, co-founder and vice president of We the Patriots USA Inc., said in a statement. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit noted that “only one court — state or federal, trial or appellate — has ever found plausible a claim of a constitutional defect in a state’s school vaccination mandate on account of the absence or repeal of a religious exemption.” “We decline to disturb this nearly unanimous consensus,” it concluded.

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History of this topic

States reconsider religious exemptions for vaccinations in child care
1 year, 1 month ago

States reconsider religious exemptions for vaccinations in child care

LA Times  

A vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella sits on a countertop at a pediatrics clinic in Greenbrae, Calif. So when officials at Montana’s health department revived a proposal that would allow people to claim religious exemptions from immunization requirements at child care facilities, Hutzenbiler was both dismayed and relieved. Mississippi began allowing such exemptions for schools and child care centers …

Mississippi, under judge’s order, starts allowing religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations
1 year, 5 months ago

Mississippi, under judge’s order, starts allowing religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations

Associated Press  

— Mississippi is starting the court-ordered process of letting people cite religious beliefs to seek exemptions from state-mandated vaccinations that children must receive before attending day care or school. In April, U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden ordered Mississippi to join most other states in allowing religious exemptions from childhood vaccinations. Bentley wrote that Edney also does not agree with state …

Judge dismisses challenge to religious exemption elimination
2 years, 11 months ago

Judge dismisses challenge to religious exemption elimination

Associated Press  

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a law passed last year that eliminated Connecticut’s long-standing religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities, saying the state has an interest in protecting the health of Connecticut’s students. In a 33-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton said the plaintiffs failed to prove …

Supreme Court declines to block Maine’s COVID vaccine mandate for health workers
3 years, 1 month ago

Supreme Court declines to block Maine’s COVID vaccine mandate for health workers

LA Times  

The Supreme Court is seen at dusk in Washington on Friday. The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from healthcare workers in Maine to block a COVID-19 vaccine mandate that went into effect Friday. Only New York and Rhode Island also have vaccine mandates for healthcare workers that lack religious exemptions. Both are the subject of court fights, and …

Religious Exemptions for Vaccine Mandates Shouldn't Exist
3 years, 2 months ago

Religious Exemptions for Vaccine Mandates Shouldn't Exist

Wired  

Covid vaccine mandates are proliferating—and so, inevitably, are attempts to evade them by claiming a religious exemption. As the Supreme Court observed in 1879, “To permit this would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself.” Congress can’t tell …

Editorial: Dump COVID vaccine religious exemptions. There is no Church of Moderna Disbelievers
3 years, 3 months ago

Editorial: Dump COVID vaccine religious exemptions. There is no Church of Moderna Disbelievers

LA Times  

What is a COVID-19 vaccine mandate worth if it includes exemptions for “sincerely held religious beliefs”? Given how large a loophole religious exemptions create, no one should be remotely surprised that thousands of Los Angeles employees are lining up to claim religious exemptions from the city’s vaccine requirement for its employees — a little more than 10% overall, but with …

Op-Ed: The next threat on the horizon: Religious exemptions from vaccine mandates
3 years, 3 months ago

Op-Ed: The next threat on the horizon: Religious exemptions from vaccine mandates

LA Times  

Hundreds of protesters rally against vaccination mandates outside of the Michigan State Capitol on Aug. 6, in Lansing, Mich. I have recently thought of her, as colleagues at hospitals, universities and other employers around the country report they are becoming deluged with requests for religious exemptions to new vaccine mandates. Even Christian Scientists tell members to “respect” public health officials …

Op-Ed: Don’t exempt religious objectors from vaccine mandates
3 years, 5 months ago

Op-Ed: Don’t exempt religious objectors from vaccine mandates

LA Times  

Policies requiring vaccination against COVID-19 need not include, and should not include, exceptions for those who have religious objections to vaccinations. employees who object to vaccination based on their sincerely-held religious belief, practice, or observance.” This is simply wrong as a matter of law. In terms of free exercise of religion under the 1st Amendment, the Supreme Court ruled more …

Momentum grows for closing gaps in US vaccine requirements
3 years, 7 months ago

Momentum grows for closing gaps in US vaccine requirements

Associated Press  

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. Religious exemptions like the one eliminated by Connecticut’s new law are facing particular scrutiny amid fears …

Connecticut ends its state religious vaccine exemption
3 years, 7 months ago

Connecticut ends its state religious vaccine exemption

Associated Press  

Connecticut will no longer allow a religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities, becoming the sixth state to end that policy. He called it “far more chilling” to tell a parent how to raise their child than to expose other children to a “nominal risk” of infection, given the state’s high, overall vaccination rate. …

Senate debates religious vaccine exemption bill amid protest
3 years, 7 months ago

Senate debates religious vaccine exemption bill amid protest

Associated Press  

Connecticut is poised to end a long-standing religious exemption from immunization requirements for schools, a move that led to protests outside the state Capitol where people are trying to stop final legislative passage of one of the most contentious bills of the session. “When you see a clear pattern, it is important to be ahead of the curve and then …

Bill ending religious vaccine exemption now heads to Senate
3 years, 8 months ago

Bill ending religious vaccine exemption now heads to Senate

Associated Press  

A contentious bill that would end Connecticut’s long-standing religious exemption from immunization requirements for schools, beginning with the 2022-23 school year, now awaits action in the state Senate. We do not know when community immunity might be compromised,” said Democratic House Majority Leader Jason Rojas of East Hartford, who compared the situation to the early days of the coronavirus pandemic …

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