Illinois Vaccine Religious Exemption for Preschool

[mamalizzie]

My son started preschool last year, at a private school, and I submitted a religious exemption with no issues.  The only vaccines he was missing were the live vaccines, MMR & chicken pox.  (Unfortunately I had no idea about the dangers of vaccines until I started hearing things in the media when my son was about a year old, and had already had a ton of vaccines).  My religious exemption letter basically said I was against those two vaccines due to their use of fetal tissue from aborted fetuses, which would be against my religion.  I figured I couldn't just say I was against vaccines altogether since my son already had most of them :(

This year, my son is returning to the same school but now my daughter will be joining him too.  She will be in the 2yr/3yr class, and he'll be in 3yr/4yr.  My problem is that my daughter has only received a handful of vaccines.  She is missing way more than my son, due to the fact that my eyes had been opened to possible dangers.  To be honest, I still go back & forth, I really don't know what I want to do.  She hasn't had a vaccine in over a year, but every time I see her Dr, she's telling me horror stories of unvaxed kids & sometimes I give in and get one vaccine out of guilt.  I know this is crazy & I need to make a decision!

Anyway, sorry for the long story, but I'm not sure what to say in my exemption letter this year.  I can't say I'm only against fetal-tissue vac's for DS, but I'm against all vac's for DD.  Plus there's the fact that both of them have had many vac's, so how can I claim vac's are against my religion?  Unless I say I just realized they were against my religion a year ago, after she had the last one?  Or do I just write a basic "vac's are against my religion" letter & then if questioned I could explain that my regious beliefs changed a year ago, and that's why they both had vaccines previous to that?  I need to write the same letter for both kids, but I have no idea what to say at this point!

Help please!  Thanks!!!

[gr00vymama]

You don't need a detailed letter.  All you need is a basic religious exemption letter and they cannot question you or your beliefs.  I don't remember the letter I turned in but it was really simple and I had no problems or questions.  If you look on line you can probably find one that you can copy and personalize it.  Here are some links to more info http://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Laws/state-vaccine-requirements/illinois.aspx

here is a link to a fill in type letterhttp://www.martenshealth.com/nss-folder/patientdownloadfolder/Immunization%20letter.pdf.

[moeme3]

Hello, I'm just wondering how things turned out for you?  I'm in almost the exact same boat.  My oldest has had almost all of his vaccines.  We want to enroll his younger sibling in the same preschool, but he has not had quite a few vaccines.  And I'm not sure my 6 month old will get any.  

Also, are you in the city?  Do you know if the school is considered a daycare?  I've heard that if it is, the religious exemption won't work.

Thanks.

[mamalizzie]

Hi, everything worked out good for us.  I turned in this letter for both kids:

To whom it may concern:

As the parent of _____________, and in accordance with 77 Illinois Administrative Code 655.510, I hereby state that our family’s specific and deeply held, personal religious beliefs prohibit the injection of vaccines into our bodies. We believe that we were created in God’s own image, and as He possessed a perfect immune system, so too must we trust in our own perfectly designed immune systems. To question this would mean going against the law of God, and it is our faith to fully put our trust in Him for our child’s immune system health.  

A friend gave me the wording for the letter...not sure if she copied it from someone else.  If anyone were to ever question why my kids had vaccines in the past if they were against our religious beliefs, I would just say (truthfully) that my beliefs had changed.  But I have not been questioned at all over the last 2 years we have attended this school.

I'm in the suburbs, and our school is not a daycare.  It's a private, non-profit, cooperative run by the parents.  They do not receive any state funding.  I have heard the same thing about daycares though, that they don't have to accept the religious exemption.  I hope everything goes smoothly for you!  Good luck!