Religious exemption

[4daughters]

My nephew submitted a religious exempt for school and the nurse send home a form wanted explanation of why vaccinations conflict with his religion and then say that the exemption can not be moral or philisophical. I don't understand if she read the exemption it says it is religious and explains it! I'm in NJ and wonder if anyone else had to supply and extra letter of explanation?

[Tari Mithrandir]

In NJ you cannot use moral/philosophical, but I don't think they are allowed to ask for an explanation beyond what you have provided. It sounds to me like they are just trying to give you a hard time. NJ has the highest vaccination rate in the world and they love trying to force you to vaccinate (We also have the highest autism rate, 1:94... Coincidence? :P)

[4daughters]

My exemption is Religious and not of any other nature. I guess their just giving us a hardtime.

[Fyrestorm]

I would ask for the statute that states that you have to explain anything. Ask for it in writing. Do not explain anything. You don't have to and they can't ask. The nurse will not be able to come up with anything that says you have to explain your exemption.

[Emmeline II]

NJ Law:

A written statement should be submitted by the student, or the student's parent or guardian if the student is a minor, explaining how the administration of the vaccine conflicts with the bona fide religious tenets or practices of the student, or the parent or guardian, as appropriate; except that a general philosophical or moral objection to the vaccination shall not be sufficient for an exemption on religious grounds.

I would not respond to a demand from a school nurse. Some states, like NY; the following is VERY important.

----For a religious exemption you need to be "against the practice of vaccination".

If you give your reasons to be against vaccinations as: "I'm against vaccination because they use aborted fetal cells", this is a philosophical reason.

"I'm against pre-marital sex and some vaxes are for sexually transmitted diseases." This is a philosophical reason.

Again, you have to be against the the practice of vaccination.

----Also, you DO NOT have to be a member of a religion doctrinally opposed to vaccination. You can be Wiccan, Lutheran, Catholic, Jewish, church of the flip flops, and still claim a religious exemption do to your personal religious beliefs against the practice of vaccination. Dr. Mercola does a good job of explaining this in my Religious Exemptions link below (you may have to register to read it).

----One more thing, you do not want to include specific biblical verses as your interpretation could be challenged. You need to describe your personal religious beliefs.

----Require that all questions regarding your exemption be in writing and give answers in writing. Do not give verbal responses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sample Religious Exemption Letter :

To whom it may concern; (We / I) {First and Last name(s)}, as the {(parent (s) / guardian(s)} of ______________________(name of newborn child) are exercising (our/my) rights under the US Constitution, PUBLIC HEALTH LAW, ARTICLE 21. CONTROL OF ACUTE COMMUNICABLE DISEASES,TITLE VI. POLIOMYELITIS AND OTHER DISEASES, NY CLS Pub Health § 2164 (2002), to receive Religious Exemption from Vaccination, ALL injections, prophylaxis, & testing due to our genuine and sincere religious beliefs which are contrary to the practices herein required.

The U.S. Supreme Court held in Frazee V. Illinois Dept. of Security, 489 U.S. 829, that a religious belief is subject to protection even though no religious group espouses such beliefs or the fact that the religious group to which the individual professes to belong may not advocate or require such belief. This ruling is also reflected in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended Nov. 1, 1980; Part 1605.1-Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Religion.

Sincerely,

Your signature

Date

[4daughters]

thanks

[Purple Cat]

Ummmmm, I think I see it differently.

The statute requires a statement of why vaccinations conflict with religious beliefs. I would research what type of statements have been determined acceptable in NJ, and most importantly, what have not.

I'm pretty sure the nurse would be construed as asking on behalf of the school -- and seems to be within her right ot. I imagine she is just following the school's policy that if a student claims religious exemption that they comply with the statutory requirements of explaining why their is a conflict.

Something to think about . . .

Let us know what you decide and how it goes.

[HippieWannaBe]

I read somewhere, possibly on this site, that injecting cells or tissue of another creature, either human or not, into ones body is unholy. Especially aborted fetal tissue. That is not why we're not vaccinating, but it might help along the lines of religious questions. It's just absurd that a school nurse is even allowed to question an exemption that is legally allowed in your state! If you didn't have to explain it to the health department to get the exemption, then you surely should not have to explain it to her.

[3lilpunkins]

The way I see it:

We are created in he image of God. When we need to inject foreign substances into our bodies we are saying, God's design isn't good enough, therefore, insulting Him.

The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, in born again christians, so, injecting foreign substances and toxic chemicals is defiling the temple of God.

The bible tells us (Lev.11:17), that the blood is what our life comes from, so vaccinating is polluting the life blood.

It is in a way, not having faith, by vaccinating. We are supposed to trust in God to met all our needs, So its a contradiction to your faith.

I think vaxes that contain aborted fetus tissue could be used for rel. exempt. b/c you believe in the 6th commendment, thou shall not kill, abortion is killing.
Also, vaxes like hep.B, that promotes drug use & premartial sex are against the teachings of your religion.

HTH

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by HippieWannaBe

I read somewhere, possibly on this site, that injecting cells or tissue of another creature, either human or not, into ones body is unholy. Especially aborted fetal tissue. That is not why we're not vaccinating, but it might help along the lines of religious questions.

No, it does not help; see my post above.

[Proverbs31]

Your best bet would be to check with this organization. If NJ is anything like NY, exemptions are approved in an arbitrary fashion because its up to the individual school to decide whether or not your explanation is sufficient. Maybe you could get feedback from parents who have filed exemptions in your area.
http://www.njaicv.org/

[spero]

Originally Posted by HippieWannaBe

I read somewhere, possibly on this site, that injecting cells or tissue of another creature, either human or not, into ones body is unholy. Especially aborted fetal tissue. That is not why we're not vaccinating, but it might help along the lines of religious questions.

Originally Posted by 3lilpunkins

I think vaxes that contain aborted fetus tissue could be used for rel. exempt. b/c you believe in the 6th commendment, thou shall not kill, abortion is killing.
Also, vaxes like hep.B, that promotes drug use & premartial sex are against the teachings of your religion.

It bears repeating that you CANNOT use the above as legitimate reasons for not vaccinating if you are requesting a religious exemption. Those reasons pertain to CERTAIN vaccines (for religious exemption you must be opposed to the PRACTICE of vaccination) and that is technically/lawfully considered philosophical reasoning, NOT religious.

[4daughters]

For some odd reason, the nurse had an issue with the original religious exempt, which was notarized that it was not in our handwriting. So all I did was copy it and writed it in writing and signed it and she said that was fine. Go figure.

[Proverbs31]

LOL, I think she may be taking "written statement" a bit too literally!

[4daughters]

Originally Posted by Proverbs31

LOL, I think she may be taking "written statement" a bit too literally!

I know isn't that funny.