religous exemption; all or none after

[Still_Learning]

So after filing religous expemption, it's all or none after that, right?

What about your younger kids?

I have a 5 yo that has had some vaxes that I'm about to claim religous exemption, but I also have a 2 month old that I was considering some vax's for.

What do you do in this situation?

[Evergreen]

lie.

[ZoeyZoo]

I'm a non-vaxer but from what I understand some people get away with it by pretending they haven't had any. Check into your state because this can't be done everywhere. There a vax registries in every state. Some you can and some you can't opt out of. If you can't opt out it makes it very difficult to stay under the radar.

The other issue this may cause in the future is if there is a school outbreak or something and they want to keep non-vaxed kids home your child may have to stay home even though they had it unless they'll take titres.

[Maxine45]

Great question.
We're trying to figure this out right now, too.
We are a delayed vax family and certainly won't be up to the full requirements by September but won't stop vaxxing completely after school does start.
I guess if a person has an opportunity for a medical exemption, that might be preferable.

[laohaire]

I got a little bit stuck yesterday (no big deal though) on my DD's preschool application.

I wrote an exemption letter and planned to not give any information about prior vaxes at all.

But the application also required some proof of physical examination by a doctor this year (sheesh... I'm starting to turn into a libertarian or something... why the hell am I forced to take DD to an MD!! .. but not too big of a deal since she HAS been seen this year). I called the office and they said they'd have that ready for us. I was thinking it would just be a copy of the last visit's notes in her chart, but they had a single sheet of paper, at the top listing her entire vaccine history and at the bottom the rest of the stuff and the doc's signature. So I could not remove the vax history, at least not without making it look kind of suspicious. So I left it, thus putting me in the potentially sticky situation of having the exemption letter and some past vaxes.

So I'm thinking that if they require the physical examination form every year, then if I get any more vaxes it will show up. Unless I do something tricky like go to a clinic or something. So it does seem to complicate selectively choosing future vaxes if we want to.

ETA: Forgot to say, no eyebrows were actually raised - yet, at least. I handed in the paperwork, the lady had to have seen the letter though maybe she didn't read the exam form close enough to see that there were past vaxes. But no questions. So far at least.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

There is some reason why a lot of us vaxed our lo's and then stopped, i don't think that the school could question whether or not you converted to a different religion at some point which made you object to vaxes. (a possibility that should not have to be prooved) Or that you did further research and found out more of the ingredients that were in the vaxes that went against your religious beliefs. Now as far as future vaccines, that is a delimma.

[LisaSedai]

What if you were to get the vax done in a state other than the one you live in? Is there a national registry?

[hippiemommaof4]

Why not say that you changed your religion later and then found out what was in them so it goes against your religion.

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by hippiemommaof4

Why not say that you changed your religion later and then found out what was in them so it goes against your religion.

The question isn't whether you can have had some vaxes given and then claim a religious exemption. The question is whether you can have a religious exemption, and then selectively vax.

[hippiemommaof4]

Originally Posted by laohaire

The question isn't whether you can have had some vaxes given and then claim a religious exemption. The question is whether you can have a religious exemption, and then selectively vax.

I guess I was confused then, but anyway. I dont see why you couldnt...Not all vaccines are made from the same "ingredients" so that could be valid reasoning for some and not others.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by hippiemommaof4

I guess I was confused then, but anyway. I dont see why you couldnt...Not all vaccines are made from the same "ingredients" so that could be valid reasoning for some and not others.

That's the tricky thing about this, the legal definition of religiously opposed is flat-out weird. If you say you're opposed because of certain ingredients or processes (including stuff like the use of aborted fetal tissue) that is _legally_ considered a philosophical reason. If you give something like that as the reason for your religious exemption, you'll get it denied. A religious exemption is based on being opposed to the _practice_ of vaccination, so it does have to be all-or-nothing. Some people try to slip by and hope that the tracking systems won't flag what's happening, but as they get the systems more integrated over time, that seems like it will become more difficult.

[hippiemommaof4]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

That's the tricky thing about this, the legal definition of religiously opposed is flat-out weird. If you say you're opposed because of certain ingredients or processes (including stuff like the use of aborted fetal tissue) that is _legally_ considered a philosophical reason. If you give something like that as the reason for your religious exemption, you'll get it denied. A religious exemption is based on being opposed to the _practice_ of vaccination, so it does have to be all-or-nothing. Some people try to slip by and hope that the tracking systems won't flag what's happening, but as they get the systems more integrated over time, that seems like it will become more difficult.

I am telling them that we stopped vaxing because of a change in religion which is technically true. My kids are in government computers though with their records since we are military. So they'll always have access to them here at this hospital, until my husband retires. It sucks for us. Would it not be religious matters if you claimed that you were catholic since the catholic church as a whole is very openly against abortion since they use aborted fetal tissue? I'm just asking for future reference btw lol.

[laohaire]

It SHOULD matter. But from what I know about previous court cases, TanyaLopez is right, the ones that have been upheld were based solely on a religious objection to the practice of vaccination as a whole ("God made us complete, He didn't leave anything out" for example). But absolutely, fetal cells SHOULD be a basis for selective vaccination.

I think we've established on this thread, also as TanyaLopez said, that technically it is an all-or-nothing matter once you get the exemption, unless you can sneak it by. And it seems these days in most states you probably can sneak it by, but you would have to plan how to do that. And probably those loopholes will be closed soon.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by hippiemommaof4

Would it not be religious matters if you claimed that you were catholic since the catholic church as a whole is very openly against abortion since they use aborted fetal tissue? I'm just asking for future reference btw lol.

Actually the RC church is fairly pro-vaccination, and people sometimes have difficulty using their exemptions at Roman Catholic schools.

It needs to be a personal belief about the practice of vaccination; there are some churches that, as part of their beliefs, are anti-vaccination, but I think adherents would still have to state that their personal convictions also prohibit vaccination.

The whole thing defies common sense.