refer people to the Vaccine Rights website for legal exemption help (https://vaccinerights.com). I provide better legal exemption services for a lot less than what few other options exist, as there’s no one else with anywhere near my level of exemption experience and expertise.
Alan Phillips, J.D., is the nation’s leading vaccine rights legal expert, the only person who’s ever been an attorney working fulltime with exemptions, and the only person who’s worked in the approx. 70 U.S. exemption contexts and sub-contexts with clients, attorneys, legislators, and activists nationally for over two decades (indeed, the only person who can even name more than a few of them)
This letter is to serve as notification that ____________________________ and ___________________________, the parents of __________________________, born __________, ___, 20___, are exercising our right to a religious waiver on all future childhood vaccinations because we find them to be in extreme violations of our personal religious beliefs.
The following are ways in which these violations manifest themselves in the vaccinations recommended by the Center for Disease Control.
The use of cells, cellular debris, protein, and DNA from willfully aborted human children found in Adenovirus, Polio, Dtap/Polio/HiB Combo, Hep A, Hep A/Hep B Combo, MMR, MMRV Pro Quad, Rabies, Varicella, and the Shingles vaccines violate the very basic commands found in Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:15 which instructs us to not murder. The following ingredients were derived from no fewer than 107 human souls who were sacrificed for social reasons and then used in past and ongoing vaccine research: PER C6, HEK293, WI-38 (RA 27/3), WI-1, WI-2, WI-3, WI-4, WI-5, WI-6, WI-7, WI-8, WI-9, WI-10, WI-11, WI-12, WI-13, WI-14, WI-15, WI-16, WI-17, WI-18, WI-19, WI-20, WI-21, WI-22, WI-23, WI-24, WI-25, WI-26, WI-27, WI-38, WI-44, and MCR-5 plus many other ingredients obtained from human children not required to be listed by FDA guidelines. Supporting vaccinations and vaccination developments is an endorsement of the sacrifice of those and the continuing sacrifice of other human souls.
Genesis 4:1, 17 and Jeremiah 1:5 demonstrate that the deceased children used in the aforementioned vaccinations were recognized by God as human souls from the point of conception in the same way that we, as parents, recognized our child as a human from the moment we were aware of his/her presence in his/her mother’s wombs.
Genesis 1:27 - 28, 4:1, 2 Kings 17:17-18, Psalm 22:10-11, 106: 35, 37-38, 113:7-9, 127:3, 139:13-16, Amos 1:13, Matthew 18:1-4, and Matthew 19:13-15 are just a few verses that illustrate the aforementioned children as blessings from God that are valued and loved by him, their Creator, in whose image they were created and that their killing is condemned and causes God's destructive anger to burn against their murderers and those complicit in those murders.
Exodus 20:13, Leviticus 18:21 & 20:2-5, Deuteronomy 12:30-32, 18:10, 2 Kings 16:3, and Psalm 106:38 illustrate that all child sacrifice is condemned with no exception clauses allowing for the greater good or public exception clauses found anywhere in the sacred scriptures.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and 10:31 remind us that we are to regard our bodies a temples of God's Holy Spirit and that we are to honor God, our Creator and possessor of our very bodies by not defiling them. Notwithstanding the presence of socially sacrificed human cells and debris in vaccinations, we firmly believe that the presence of neurotoxins, hazardous substances, attenuated viruses, animal cells, foreign DNA, albumin from human blood, carcinogens, and chemical wastes is in strict violation of our imperative to treat our bodies as holy temples of the very Spirit of God.
Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:10-11, 17:14, Deuteronomy 12:23, Acts 15:20 and 29 informs us that blood represents the life force of human and animal species and that human blood was to be kept pure under all circumstances and free from contaminants such as animal cells, parts, and blood.
We thank you for respectfully adhering to our first amendment rights guaranteed as citizens of the United States of America by her great Constitution and reinforced on a state level by the fourteenth amendment without prejudice.
State of _________________________________, ________________________ County
I,_________________________________, a Notary Public for said County and State, do hereby certify that ____________________________ and _________________________________personally appeared before me this day and acknowledged the due execution of the foregoing instrument.
Witness my hand and official seal, this the ______ day of ______________, 20 ____.
This week, A Voice for Choice Advocacy is thrilled to share another victory for religious rights! Similar to Olina’s story from last week, this time Stacy turned to AVFCA for assistance in exercising her religious beliefs against vaccination. Stacy was excited to join a new educational opportunity at Bay Area Medical Academy (BAMA). She had been accepted into BAMA’s free program for low-income San Francisco residents, designed to train individuals as Medical Assistants.
As part of her admissions process, Stacy submitted a religious exemption outlining her sincerely held beliefs against the COVID-19 vaccine and booster. However, she was told she could not attend classes because her exemption did not meet BAMA's requirements. Specifically, BAMA demanded a letter on official letterhead from the leader of her religious organization, stating the objection on her behalf, the reason for the objection, and the specific doctrine supporting it. The letter also needed to include the organization's address, phone number, and 501(c)(3) identification number.
Drawing from our extensive experience with religious exemptions, AVFCA immediately recognized that BAMA's requirements were unconstitutional. The right to decline specific medical treatments, including vaccines, is protected under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The First Amendment only requires an individual to hold sincere personal convictions—it does not mandate membership in an organized religion. AVFCA engaged our legal partners at Actium LLP to advocate for Stacy’s rights. Our legal team aimed to resolve the issue quickly by demonstrating to BAMA that their policy violated Stacy's constitutional protections.
AVFCA is excited to share that BAMA has completely reversed its position, allowing Stacy's self-written religious exemption to stand and for her begin their Medical Assistant program immediately. This victory highlights the importance of ensuring organizations understand and respect religious rights, including what can and cannot be demanded as proof of belief. If you or someone you know faces a similar challenge, don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to support you.
Thank you for helping us make victories like this possible!
1. I am requesting a religious exemption from the Covid-19 vaccine due to my sincerely held religious beliefs and my rights from Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964. Christianity allows freedom of conscience which is not to be judged by others according to Romans 14:1,22 as I am not to judge others. My beliefs come from Biblical principles outside of politics and philosophy. I have prayed and researched seeking wisdom regarding the vaccine (John 16:13). These are beliefs and practices I have followed for many years now. There are several factors which I will outline in this explanation.
2. My body is a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and should be treated as such. Treating my body as a temple is necessary has been a way of life for me for several years. I try to avoid as many man-made toxins as possible. God has directed me to this lifestyle to take care of the temple He has provided for me. The Covid-19 vaccines interfere with God by playing the role of God on my body (Genesis 1:26-27) through material that provides instructions instead of cooperating with what God designed. This was not what God intended. We were made perfectly in his eyes (Hebrews 10:14). The Covid-19 vaccines do not take the more traditional approach to vaccination by utilizing fragments of dead viruses to induce an immune response. The Covid-19 vaccine utilizes genetically engineered immunity and a spike protein which is not natural to the human genetic system. Scientists/authorities have differing views on the claims of how this precisely affects the genetic structure and there is evidence of both sides which makes it difficult to know what it truly legitimate. Regardless of safety or efficacy, which is not my argument or concern, these novel technologies are not clear on what they are doing to our bodies and DNA therefore potentially altering the human body created in God’s image. The potential to need boosters regularly could be additionally problematic against my beliefs since this would be repeated exposure. These vaccines interfere with the image of God which impacts body-soul unity. According to the book of Genesis, God created man in His image. It is my belief that God knew precisely what He was doing when He created the body. In my view, these vaccines are not improving what God has made. We are told many times in the Bible to trust God and his creation.
3. The vaccination process has created a feeling of angst and clamor for me. However, I have hidden these feelings because there is so much pressure in society to vaccinate from family, friends, medical professionals, and governing bodies. I let all this pressure hide the instinctual feeling I had that vaccination was simply contradictory to God’s intentions for my body.The above is an explanation of my sincerely held personal religious beliefs. I hope I have described them sufficiently. These sentiments are the exclusive message I receive from my God. I do not request that you or others agree with these thoughts and personal translations. By my rights under the First Amendment, I respectfully request that they be honored as truthful and legally permissible. Based on what I have shared, I ask this religious exemption be approved.
Religious Exemptions: AVFCA has successfully helped many get their religious accommodation requests approved. If you need help with writing a religious exemption or would like us to review it before you submit it, we would be happy to. Please send the written vaccine policy, including exemption options, a description of your religious beliefs and any other information about the accommodations you are requesting, to info@avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org.
We have sent the below a couple of times, but for reference it is copied here it again for those looking to request a religious exemption:
While organizations may just ask for a statement that vaccines are against your religious beliefs and you hold those beliefs sincerely, they have the right to ask for more a detailed explanation to determine that those statements are true. For employees, the questions must be consistent with the guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/questions-and-answers-religious-discrimination-workplace. The following are examples of what may be asked to support a religious exemption:
Explain how receiving the flu/COVID vaccine conflicts with or violates your sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice.
Identify the sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice that prevents you from receiving the flu/COVID vaccine (this includes moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views (29 C.F.R.§1605.1), but it does not include “social, political, or economic philosophies” or personal preferences (U.S. Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n, Questions and Answers: Religious Discrimination in the Workplace, Question 1 (Jan. 31, 2011); U.S. Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n, Compliance Manual, Section 12: Religious Discrimination, at 12-I (Coverage) (July 22, 2008)
While the accommodation you are requesting is an exemption to vaccination for religious reasons, you may also be asked to request other accommodations, if not getting the flu/COVID vaccine would make you unable to meet the required/essential functions of your job and would impose an undue hardship, including compromising safety for your organization.
The First Amendment of the US and California Constitutions, guarantees every American freedom of religion which is not restricted to organized religion. The definition of your religion is your own and you cannot be judged for what it is. Per the 1964 Civil Rights act:
“Title VII protects all aspects of religious observance and practice as well as belief and defines religion very broadly for purposes of determining what the law covers. For purposes of Title VII, religion includes not only traditional, organized religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, but also religious beliefs that are new, uncommon, not part of a formal church or sect, only subscribed to by a small number of people, or that seem illogical or unreasonable to others. An employee’s belief or practice can be “religious” under Title VII even if the employee is affiliated with a religious group that does not espouse or recognize that individual’s belief or practice, or if few – or no – other people adhere to it. Title VII’s protections also extend to those who are discriminated against or need accommodation because they profess no religious beliefs.
Religious beliefs include theistic beliefs (i.e. those that include a belief in God) as well as non-theistic “moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views.” Although courts generally resolve doubts about particular beliefs in favor of finding that they are religious, beliefs are not protected merely because they are strongly held. Rather, religion typically concerns “ultimate ideas” about “life, purpose, and death.” Social, political, or economic philosophies, as well as mere personal preferences, are not “religious” beliefs protected by Title VII.”
More details on what constitutes religion is outlined in these two articles:
EOCC: Questions and Answers - Religious Discrimination in the Workplace
National Law Review: Flu Shots, Religious Beliefs, and Employee Rights: Navigating the Complex Intersection.
If you are part of an organized religion, most religious texts have verses that relate to the sanctity of blood and bodily autonomy.
A Voice for Choice Advocacy (AVFCA) has been educating, advocating, and litigating on vaccine choice in California for nearly 10 years. Founded in 2015 in response to SB277, which eliminated Personal Belief Exemptions for K-12 school vaccine requirements, as continued its efforts as SB276 and SB714 made obtaining School Vaccine Medical Exemptions far more difficult in 2019.
As with the beginning of every school year, in the past few weeks AVFCA has received hundreds of emails from parents seeking to understand California's K-12 vaccine laws and to explore school options for children who are not fully vaccinated. With the launch of our new website, AVFCA put together a summary of California’s School Vaccine Requirements and options. They can be found here: https://avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/ca-school-vaccine-requirements-and-options-for-not-fully-vaccinated-students/ and are replicated below.
What vaccines are required for children to attend private or public school in California?
For children entering TK or Kindergarten:
- Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DTaP, DTP, Tdap) — 5 doses (4 doses if last one is given after 4th birthday)
- Polio (OPV or IPV) — 4 doses (3 doses if last one is given after 4th birthday)
- Hepatitis B – 3 doses
- Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) — 2 doses
- Varicella (Chickenpox) — 2 doses
For children entering 7th grade:
- Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DTaP, DTP, Tdap, Td) — 3 doses – one dose must be given right before 7th grade
- Polio (OPV or IPV) — 3 doses
- Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) — 2 doses
- Varicella (Chickenpox) — 2 doses
- Hepatitis B – 3 doses (Hep B is not required for 7th grade but is required for school and will be checked at 8th grade or high school)
Can you get Titer Testing in lieu of vaccination?
Titer testing measures the concentration of antibodies in the blood to determine if a person has immunity to a specific disease, either from past infections or vaccinations. If a child has adequate antibodies they should not need to be vaccinated. Currently, in California your child’s doctor would need to submit a medical exemption to the CAIR-ME system (see below for more details) showing the antibodies. CDPH sometimes accepts these, but often does not. A Voice for Choice Advocacy is currently sponsoring a lawsuit claiming that all positive titer tests records should be able to be submitted in lieu of vaccination records, without a medical exemption. More information on that lawsuit and how to support it can be found here: https://avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/litigation/ca-school-vaccine-titer-testing-lawsuit/
What type of exemptions are there to school vaccines?
Children who have a Vaccine Medical Exemption, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or are homeschooled with a Private School Affidavit are not required to fulfill the California school vaccine requirements.
What qualifies as a Vaccine Medical Exemption and how should it be submitted?
All Vaccine Medical Exemptions for K-12 school must be submitted into the California Immunization Registry – Medical Exemption (CAIR-ME) website (https://cair.cdph.ca.gov/exemptions/home), by an MD or DO licensed in California. They must meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) criteria for precautions or contraindications to vaccines (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/contraindications.html).
To file a vaccine medical exemption in CAIR-ME:
- Parents create a CAIR-ME account to request an exemption.
- The child’s physician, who must not be on probation for vaccine issues, completes and submits the exemption in CAIR-ME and provides a printed copy for the parents.
- Parents give the ME to the school and will verify them in the CAIR-ME upon submission.
It is nearly impossible to find a doctor willing to submit a vaccine medical exemption into CAIR-ME due to intense scrutiny. Even if a doctor submits one, most exemptions are revoked by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) within weeks. Currently, CDPH reviews all exemptions submitted to CAIR-ME. If a medical exemption is revoked, it can be appealed within 30 days by submitting the child’s full medical records to CDPH, but appeals are often rejected because very few children meet the CDC guidelines for permanent contraindications to all vaccines.
Are Vaccine Medical Exemptions filed prior to January 1, 2021 still valid?
Yes, but they only remain valid until the earliest of:
- If the child is removed from school enrollment in CA due to homeschooling or moving out of state
- When the child enrolls in the next grade span (TK/K or 7th grade) – they do transfer
- The expiration date specified in a temporary medical exemption
These MEs cannot be uploaded into the CAIR-ME system
Is a child with an IEP required to be fully vaccinated to attend public school?
No, if your child has special needs and is in public school with an valid IEP or in a private school receiving public school IEP services, they do not need to be fully vaccinated. While the school may ask for any available vaccination records, they cannot require them to be up to date or have a medical exemption on file for any missing vaccines. The CDPH continuously incorrectly informs schools that children with an IEP must be vaccinated, and because of this many school districts are wasting money by hiring costly lawyers to argue that children with an IEP must be vaccinated or have a valid Vaccine Medical Exemption. Thanks to Educate.Advocate (https://www.educateadvocateca.com/), an organization AVFCA collaborates with, these cases have been resolved in favor of the students. If your school insists that your child must be fully vaccinated or have a medical exemption despite their IEP, please contact AVFCA or Educate.Advocate for assistance.
Are Personal Belief Exemptions or Religious Exemptions an option?
The Personal Belief Exemption (PBE) is no longer valid for anyone, as all children who had a PBE grandfathered in 2015, have now reached the next checkpoint – either TK/Kindergarten or 7th grade - at which point they were required meet the new vaccine requirements.
California never had a standalone Religious Exemption for K-12 vaccination requirements. However, A Voice for Choice Advocacy is currently sponsoring a lawsuit which argues SB 277 goes against the US Constitution’s First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and California law must include a Religious Exemption in the statute requiring children to get vaccines to be enrolled in public or private school. More information on that lawsuit and how to support it can be found here: https://avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/litigation/ca-school-vaccine-religious-exemption-lawsuit/
What other options are there if I do not wish to vaccinate my child any further?
Homeschooling - A pupil in a home based private school or a pupil who is enrolled in an independent study is exempt from vaccination requirements. While homeschooling is not for everyone, homeschool options have grown and changed significantly since schools were shuttered during the COVID pandemic. There are now homeschool pods and learning centers where children can homeschool in a central location.
Move to another state – but not Connecticut, Maine, New York or West Virginia as these also only allow a vaccine medical exemption. All other states either have a Personal Belief Exemption, a Religious Exemption or a Conscious belief exemption.
Are Federal Disability (ADA) Medical Exemptions valid?
In recent months, another organization has been promoting getting a federal vaccine exemption signed off by an out of state doctor stating that the student is disabled and under ADA cannot be discriminated against. The premise is that a child who cannot be vaccinated because they are allergic or have a genetic disposition against vaccination have a disability. But to be defined as disabled under federal law, your child would have to have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, at which point they would likely have an IEP. These promoted exemptions are expensive and AVFCA has yet to hear of one of them being accepted by a school in CA. Even if a school were to accept it, it is likely that the school vaccine records get audited and it would be rejected by CDPH. Many parents have turned to us after paying a large sum for such an exemption and the school rejecting it, asking what options they have. The key reason for a school denying it is that it is written as a Vaccine Medical Exemption which per CA law must be provided by a CA licensed MD or DO and must be submitted to the CAIR-ME system.
Remember two years ago when Senator Pan introduced SB 276, which removed medical exemptions for medically fragile children to attend school?
And the parents that tried to fight the bill (🙋♀️) said they are kicking our children out of school based on their medical status.
And other people said, “nuh uh, Senator Pan says you’ll be allowed to keep your medical exemption. They only want to limit how many doctors can write.”
And when the bill passed with the final wording, we said they are going to revoke existing medical exemptions for these children. But other people said, “nuh-uh, they are grandfathered in.”
Well, guess what?
CDPH just sent this👇 letter out to schools. It says that if they have students with a ME that was written before 2020 (they all were) and if the doctor that wrote it is on this list (92 pages long, 9149 doctors), then those MEs are NO LONGER VALID.
Just like we said, medical exemptions no longer exist in California. If your child is currently attending school with an ME, they are likely kicked out after this school year.
refer people to the Vaccine Rights website for legal exemption help (https://vaccinerights.com). I provide better legal exemption services for a lot less than what few other options exist, as there’s no one else with anywhere near my level of exemption experience and expertise.
Alan Phillips, J.D., is the nation’s leading vaccine rights legal expert, the only person who’s ever been an attorney working fulltime with exemptions, and the only person who’s worked in the approx. 70 U.S. exemption contexts and sub-contexts with clients, attorneys, legislators, and activists nationally for over two decades (indeed, the only person who can even name more than a few of them)
Sample Religious exemption template
Last updated: Jan 4, 2021
To all concerned parties:
This letter is to serve as notification that ____________________________ and ___________________________, the parents of __________________________, born __________, ___, 20___, are exercising our right to a religious waiver on all future childhood vaccinations because we find them to be in extreme violations of our personal religious beliefs.
The following are ways in which these violations manifest themselves in the vaccinations recommended by the Center for Disease Control.
The use of cells, cellular debris, protein, and DNA from willfully aborted human children found in Adenovirus, Polio, Dtap/Polio/HiB Combo, Hep A, Hep A/Hep B Combo, MMR, MMRV Pro Quad, Rabies, Varicella, and the Shingles vaccines violate the very basic commands found in Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:15 which instructs us to not murder. The following ingredients were derived from no fewer than 107 human souls who were sacrificed for social reasons and then used in past and ongoing vaccine research: PER C6, HEK293, WI-38 (RA 27/3), WI-1, WI-2, WI-3, WI-4, WI-5, WI-6, WI-7, WI-8, WI-9, WI-10, WI-11, WI-12, WI-13, WI-14, WI-15, WI-16, WI-17, WI-18, WI-19, WI-20, WI-21, WI-22, WI-23, WI-24, WI-25, WI-26, WI-27, WI-38, WI-44, and MCR-5 plus many other ingredients obtained from human children not required to be listed by FDA guidelines. Supporting vaccinations and vaccination developments is an endorsement of the sacrifice of those and the continuing sacrifice of other human souls.
Genesis 4:1, 17 and Jeremiah 1:5 demonstrate that the deceased children used in the aforementioned vaccinations were recognized by God as human souls from the point of conception in the same way that we, as parents, recognized our child as a human from the moment we were aware of his/her presence in his/her mother’s wombs.
Genesis 1:27 - 28, 4:1, 2 Kings 17:17-18, Psalm 22:10-11, 106: 35, 37-38, 113:7-9, 127:3, 139:13-16, Amos 1:13, Matthew 18:1-4, and Matthew 19:13-15 are just a few verses that illustrate the aforementioned children as blessings from God that are valued and loved by him, their Creator, in whose image they were created and that their killing is condemned and causes God's destructive anger to burn against their murderers and those complicit in those murders.
Exodus 20:13, Leviticus 18:21 & 20:2-5, Deuteronomy 12:30-32, 18:10, 2 Kings 16:3, and Psalm 106:38 illustrate that all child sacrifice is condemned with no exception clauses allowing for the greater good or public exception clauses found anywhere in the sacred scriptures.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and 10:31 remind us that we are to regard our bodies a temples of God's Holy Spirit and that we are to honor God, our Creator and possessor of our very bodies by not defiling them. Notwithstanding the presence of socially sacrificed human cells and debris in vaccinations, we firmly believe that the presence of neurotoxins, hazardous substances, attenuated viruses, animal cells, foreign DNA, albumin from human blood, carcinogens, and chemical wastes is in strict violation of our imperative to treat our bodies as holy temples of the very Spirit of God.
Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:10-11, 17:14, Deuteronomy 12:23, Acts 15:20 and 29 informs us that blood represents the life force of human and animal species and that human blood was to be kept pure under all circumstances and free from contaminants such as animal cells, parts, and blood.
We thank you for respectfully adhering to our first amendment rights guaranteed as citizens of the United States of America by her great Constitution and reinforced on a state level by the fourteenth amendment without prejudice.
Maternal Parent printed name:____________________________________________________
Maternal Parent signature:_______________________________________________________
Date signed:___________________
Paternal Parent printed name:____________________________________________________
Paternal Parent signature:_______________________________________________________
Date signed:___________________
Notary public witness:
State of _________________________________, ________________________ County
I,_________________________________, a Notary Public for said County and State, do hereby certify that ____________________________ and _________________________________personally appeared before me this day and acknowledged the due execution of the foregoing instrument.
Witness my hand and official seal, this the ______ day of ______________, 20 ____.
Notary
Signature:____________________________
Another Win for Religious Rights in San Francisco
Thanks to AVFCA’s Lawyers!
This week, A Voice for Choice Advocacy is thrilled to share another victory for religious rights! Similar to Olina’s story from last week, this time Stacy turned to AVFCA for assistance in exercising her religious beliefs against vaccination. Stacy was excited to join a new educational opportunity at Bay Area Medical Academy (BAMA). She had been accepted into BAMA’s free program for low-income San Francisco residents, designed to train individuals as Medical Assistants.
As part of her admissions process, Stacy submitted a religious exemption outlining her sincerely held beliefs against the COVID-19 vaccine and booster. However, she was told she could not attend classes because her exemption did not meet BAMA's requirements. Specifically, BAMA demanded a letter on official letterhead from the leader of her religious organization, stating the objection on her behalf, the reason for the objection, and the specific doctrine supporting it. The letter also needed to include the organization's address, phone number, and 501(c)(3) identification number.
Drawing from our extensive experience with religious exemptions, AVFCA immediately recognized that BAMA's requirements were unconstitutional. The right to decline specific medical treatments, including vaccines, is protected under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The First Amendment only requires an individual to hold sincere personal convictions—it does not mandate membership in an organized religion. AVFCA engaged our legal partners at Actium LLP to advocate for Stacy’s rights. Our legal team aimed to resolve the issue quickly by demonstrating to BAMA that their policy violated Stacy's constitutional protections.
AVFCA is excited to share that BAMA has completely reversed its position, allowing Stacy's self-written religious exemption to stand and for her begin their Medical Assistant program immediately. This victory highlights the importance of ensuring organizations understand and respect religious rights, including what can and cannot be demanded as proof of belief. If you or someone you know faces a similar challenge, don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re here to support you.
Thank you for helping us make victories like this possible!
https://vaccinerights.substack.com/p/when-theres-no-exemption
https://vaccinerights.substack.com/p/vaccine-exemptions-more-complicated
Religious Exemption
(Please update as needed)
1. I am requesting a religious exemption from the Covid-19 vaccine due to my sincerely held religious beliefs and my rights from Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964. Christianity allows freedom of conscience which is not to be judged by others according to Romans 14:1,22 as I am not to judge others. My beliefs come from Biblical principles outside of politics and philosophy. I have prayed and researched seeking wisdom regarding the vaccine (John 16:13). These are beliefs and practices I have followed for many years now. There are several factors which I will outline in this explanation.
2. My body is a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and should be treated as such. Treating my body as a temple is necessary has been a way of life for me for several years. I try to avoid as many man-made toxins as possible. God has directed me to this lifestyle to take care of the temple He has provided for me. The Covid-19 vaccines interfere with God by playing the role of God on my body (Genesis 1:26-27) through material that provides instructions instead of cooperating with what God designed. This was not what God intended. We were made perfectly in his eyes (Hebrews 10:14). The Covid-19 vaccines do not take the more traditional approach to vaccination by utilizing fragments of dead viruses to induce an immune response. The Covid-19 vaccine utilizes genetically engineered immunity and a spike protein which is not natural to the human genetic system. Scientists/authorities have differing views on the claims of how this precisely affects the genetic structure and there is evidence of both sides which makes it difficult to know what it truly legitimate. Regardless of safety or efficacy, which is not my argument or concern, these novel technologies are not clear on what they are doing to our bodies and DNA therefore potentially altering the human body created in God’s image. The potential to need boosters regularly could be additionally problematic against my beliefs since this would be repeated exposure. These vaccines interfere with the image of God which impacts body-soul unity. According to the book of Genesis, God created man in His image. It is my belief that God knew precisely what He was doing when He created the body. In my view, these vaccines are not improving what God has made. We are told many times in the Bible to trust God and his creation.
3. The vaccination process has created a feeling of angst and clamor for me. However, I have hidden these feelings because there is so much pressure in society to vaccinate from family, friends, medical professionals, and governing bodies. I let all this pressure hide the instinctual feeling I had that vaccination was simply contradictory to God’s intentions for my body.The above is an explanation of my sincerely held personal religious beliefs. I hope I have described them sufficiently. These sentiments are the exclusive message I receive from my God. I do not request that you or others agree with these thoughts and personal translations. By my rights under the First Amendment, I respectfully request that they be honored as truthful and legally permissible. Based on what I have shared, I ask this religious exemption be approved.
Vaccine Exemption Forms for all 50 states + Canada & Australia
https://lnk.bio/Informedconsenthub
Russell Blaylock, MD - What To
Do If Force Vaccinated
By Dr. Russell Blaylock
8-16-9.
https://rense.com/general87/vaccin.htm?fbclid=IwY2xjawGZckpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHSYHyWsBTJ_2Qo04bYxVEB0p_2w3nMcCGAgDVDug2d5vTSZsEvZwF6C4Aw_aem_UL042KHCvuhjVHz-OmEjmA
Religious Exemptions: AVFCA has successfully helped many get their religious accommodation requests approved. If you need help with writing a religious exemption or would like us to review it before you submit it, we would be happy to. Please send the written vaccine policy, including exemption options, a description of your religious beliefs and any other information about the accommodations you are requesting, to info@avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org.
We have sent the below a couple of times, but for reference it is copied here it again for those looking to request a religious exemption:
While organizations may just ask for a statement that vaccines are against your religious beliefs and you hold those beliefs sincerely, they have the right to ask for more a detailed explanation to determine that those statements are true. For employees, the questions must be consistent with the guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/questions-and-answers-religious-discrimination-workplace. The following are examples of what may be asked to support a religious exemption:
Explain how receiving the flu/COVID vaccine conflicts with or violates your sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice.
Identify the sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice that prevents you from receiving the flu/COVID vaccine (this includes moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views (29 C.F.R.§1605.1), but it does not include “social, political, or economic philosophies” or personal preferences (U.S. Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n, Questions and Answers: Religious Discrimination in the Workplace, Question 1 (Jan. 31, 2011); U.S. Equal Emp’t Opportunity Comm’n, Compliance Manual, Section 12: Religious Discrimination, at 12-I (Coverage) (July 22, 2008)
While the accommodation you are requesting is an exemption to vaccination for religious reasons, you may also be asked to request other accommodations, if not getting the flu/COVID vaccine would make you unable to meet the required/essential functions of your job and would impose an undue hardship, including compromising safety for your organization.
The First Amendment of the US and California Constitutions, guarantees every American freedom of religion which is not restricted to organized religion. The definition of your religion is your own and you cannot be judged for what it is. Per the 1964 Civil Rights act:
“Title VII protects all aspects of religious observance and practice as well as belief and defines religion very broadly for purposes of determining what the law covers. For purposes of Title VII, religion includes not only traditional, organized religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, but also religious beliefs that are new, uncommon, not part of a formal church or sect, only subscribed to by a small number of people, or that seem illogical or unreasonable to others. An employee’s belief or practice can be “religious” under Title VII even if the employee is affiliated with a religious group that does not espouse or recognize that individual’s belief or practice, or if few – or no – other people adhere to it. Title VII’s protections also extend to those who are discriminated against or need accommodation because they profess no religious beliefs.
Religious beliefs include theistic beliefs (i.e. those that include a belief in God) as well as non-theistic “moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views.” Although courts generally resolve doubts about particular beliefs in favor of finding that they are religious, beliefs are not protected merely because they are strongly held. Rather, religion typically concerns “ultimate ideas” about “life, purpose, and death.” Social, political, or economic philosophies, as well as mere personal preferences, are not “religious” beliefs protected by Title VII.”
More details on what constitutes religion is outlined in these two articles:
EOCC: Questions and Answers - Religious Discrimination in the Workplace
National Law Review: Flu Shots, Religious Beliefs, and Employee Rights: Navigating the Complex Intersection.
If you are part of an organized religion, most religious texts have verses that relate to the sanctity of blood and bodily autonomy.
From AVFCA email 12/23/2020
CA School Vaccine Requirements and
Options for Not Fully Vaccinated Students
Everything you need to know!
A Voice for Choice Advocacy (AVFCA) has been educating, advocating, and litigating on vaccine choice in California for nearly 10 years. Founded in 2015 in response to SB277, which eliminated Personal Belief Exemptions for K-12 school vaccine requirements, as continued its efforts as SB276 and SB714 made obtaining School Vaccine Medical Exemptions far more difficult in 2019.
As with the beginning of every school year, in the past few weeks AVFCA has received hundreds of emails from parents seeking to understand California's K-12 vaccine laws and to explore school options for children who are not fully vaccinated. With the launch of our new website, AVFCA put together a summary of California’s School Vaccine Requirements and options. They can be found here: https://avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/ca-school-vaccine-requirements-and-options-for-not-fully-vaccinated-students/ and are replicated below.
What vaccines are required for children to attend private or public school in California?
For children entering TK or Kindergarten:
- Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DTaP, DTP, Tdap) — 5 doses (4 doses if last one is given after 4th birthday)
- Polio (OPV or IPV) — 4 doses (3 doses if last one is given after 4th birthday)
- Hepatitis B – 3 doses
- Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) — 2 doses
- Varicella (Chickenpox) — 2 doses
For children entering 7th grade:
- Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DTaP, DTP, Tdap, Td) — 3 doses – one dose must be given right before 7th grade
- Polio (OPV or IPV) — 3 doses
- Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) — 2 doses
- Varicella (Chickenpox) — 2 doses
- Hepatitis B – 3 doses (Hep B is not required for 7th grade but is required for school and will be checked at 8th grade or high school)
Can you get Titer Testing in lieu of vaccination?
Titer testing measures the concentration of antibodies in the blood to determine if a person has immunity to a specific disease, either from past infections or vaccinations. If a child has adequate antibodies they should not need to be vaccinated. Currently, in California your child’s doctor would need to submit a medical exemption to the CAIR-ME system (see below for more details) showing the antibodies. CDPH sometimes accepts these, but often does not. A Voice for Choice Advocacy is currently sponsoring a lawsuit claiming that all positive titer tests records should be able to be submitted in lieu of vaccination records, without a medical exemption. More information on that lawsuit and how to support it can be found here: https://avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/litigation/ca-school-vaccine-titer-testing-lawsuit/
What type of exemptions are there to school vaccines?
Children who have a Vaccine Medical Exemption, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or are homeschooled with a Private School Affidavit are not required to fulfill the California school vaccine requirements.
What qualifies as a Vaccine Medical Exemption and how should it be submitted?
All Vaccine Medical Exemptions for K-12 school must be submitted into the California Immunization Registry – Medical Exemption (CAIR-ME) website (https://cair.cdph.ca.gov/exemptions/home), by an MD or DO licensed in California. They must meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) criteria for precautions or contraindications to vaccines (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/contraindications.html).
To file a vaccine medical exemption in CAIR-ME:
- Parents create a CAIR-ME account to request an exemption.
- The child’s physician, who must not be on probation for vaccine issues, completes and submits the exemption in CAIR-ME and provides a printed copy for the parents.
- Parents give the ME to the school and will verify them in the CAIR-ME upon submission.
It is nearly impossible to find a doctor willing to submit a vaccine medical exemption into CAIR-ME due to intense scrutiny. Even if a doctor submits one, most exemptions are revoked by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) within weeks. Currently, CDPH reviews all exemptions submitted to CAIR-ME. If a medical exemption is revoked, it can be appealed within 30 days by submitting the child’s full medical records to CDPH, but appeals are often rejected because very few children meet the CDC guidelines for permanent contraindications to all vaccines.
Are Vaccine Medical Exemptions filed prior to January 1, 2021 still valid?
Yes, but they only remain valid until the earliest of:
- If the child is removed from school enrollment in CA due to homeschooling or moving out of state
- When the child enrolls in the next grade span (TK/K or 7th grade) – they do transfer
- The expiration date specified in a temporary medical exemption
- If the issuing MD or DO has ever been subject to disciplinary action from the physician’s licensing entity (https://search.dca.ca.gov/?BD=800&TP=8002)
These MEs cannot be uploaded into the CAIR-ME system
Is a child with an IEP required to be fully vaccinated to attend public school?
No, if your child has special needs and is in public school with an valid IEP or in a private school receiving public school IEP services, they do not need to be fully vaccinated. While the school may ask for any available vaccination records, they cannot require them to be up to date or have a medical exemption on file for any missing vaccines. The CDPH continuously incorrectly informs schools that children with an IEP must be vaccinated, and because of this many school districts are wasting money by hiring costly lawyers to argue that children with an IEP must be vaccinated or have a valid Vaccine Medical Exemption. Thanks to Educate.Advocate (https://www.educateadvocateca.com/), an organization AVFCA collaborates with, these cases have been resolved in favor of the students. If your school insists that your child must be fully vaccinated or have a medical exemption despite their IEP, please contact AVFCA or Educate.Advocate for assistance.
Are Personal Belief Exemptions or Religious Exemptions an option?
The Personal Belief Exemption (PBE) is no longer valid for anyone, as all children who had a PBE grandfathered in 2015, have now reached the next checkpoint – either TK/Kindergarten or 7th grade - at which point they were required meet the new vaccine requirements.
California never had a standalone Religious Exemption for K-12 vaccination requirements. However, A Voice for Choice Advocacy is currently sponsoring a lawsuit which argues SB 277 goes against the US Constitution’s First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and California law must include a Religious Exemption in the statute requiring children to get vaccines to be enrolled in public or private school. More information on that lawsuit and how to support it can be found here: https://avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/litigation/ca-school-vaccine-religious-exemption-lawsuit/
What other options are there if I do not wish to vaccinate my child any further?
Homeschooling - A pupil in a home based private school or a pupil who is enrolled in an independent study is exempt from vaccination requirements. While homeschooling is not for everyone, homeschool options have grown and changed significantly since schools were shuttered during the COVID pandemic. There are now homeschool pods and learning centers where children can homeschool in a central location.
Move to another state – but not Connecticut, Maine, New York or West Virginia as these also only allow a vaccine medical exemption. All other states either have a Personal Belief Exemption, a Religious Exemption or a Conscious belief exemption.
Are Federal Disability (ADA) Medical Exemptions valid?
In recent months, another organization has been promoting getting a federal vaccine exemption signed off by an out of state doctor stating that the student is disabled and under ADA cannot be discriminated against. The premise is that a child who cannot be vaccinated because they are allergic or have a genetic disposition against vaccination have a disability. But to be defined as disabled under federal law, your child would have to have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, at which point they would likely have an IEP. These promoted exemptions are expensive and AVFCA has yet to hear of one of them being accepted by a school in CA. Even if a school were to accept it, it is likely that the school vaccine records get audited and it would be rejected by CDPH. Many parents have turned to us after paying a large sum for such an exemption and the school rejecting it, asking what options they have. The key reason for a school denying it is that it is written as a Vaccine Medical Exemption which per CA law must be provided by a CA licensed MD or DO and must be submitted to the CAIR-ME system.
Christina Hildebrand
President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
christina@avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org
www.AVoiceForChoiceAdvocacy.org
4.16.2021
Remember two years ago when Senator Pan introduced SB 276, which removed medical exemptions for medically fragile children to attend school?
And the parents that tried to fight the bill (🙋♀️) said they are kicking our children out of school based on their medical status.
And other people said, “nuh uh, Senator Pan says you’ll be allowed to keep your medical exemption. They only want to limit how many doctors can write.”
And when the bill passed with the final wording, we said they are going to revoke existing medical exemptions for these children. But other people said, “nuh-uh, they are grandfathered in.”
Well, guess what?
CDPH just sent this👇 letter out to schools. It says that if they have students with a ME that was written before 2020 (they all were) and if the doctor that wrote it is on this list (92 pages long, 9149 doctors), then those MEs are NO LONGER VALID.
Just like we said, medical exemptions no longer exist in California. If your child is currently attending school with an ME, they are likely kicked out after this school year.
Reposted from : Michelle Chavez
CDPH Letter:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WxHhNDtsJGwQ9_YXTCkDkhTT03_Lrdtf/view?fbclid=IwAR1AGpImF1nSWtOBzw6iZbJU4gAbMGBM4MGJrc_itYpTgK6HY3ooaJbRn90
List of Doctors:
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://eziz.org/assets/docs/shotsforschool/2021MBC_OMBCDisciplinedDoctors.pdf
AVFCA - CA School Vaccine Requirements and Options for Not Fully Vaccinated Students
https://avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/ca-school-vaccine-requirements-and-options-for-not-fully-vaccinated-students/
ICAN The Danger Of Eliminating Vaccine Exemptions 3-2019
https://icandecide.org/article/the-danger-of-eliminating-vaccine-exemptions/
When looking to use and IEP to enroll kids in school, I hear Shannon at Educate Advocate is great. Find them here https://www.educateadvocateca.com/