Massachusetts is at it again. The state legislators are trying once again to eliminate parental rights and religious freedom. For the fourth time in four years, state legislators are trying to remove the vaccine religious exemption for K-12 students in both public and private schools.

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According to the Massachusetts Family Institute, if these bills pass, they would “strip families of their freedom to make health decisions based on faith” and “dramatically expand state control over student health.”

These state bills would require parents to violate their religious beliefs and force children to receive any vaccination the DPH rules necessary. That’s a lot of power – without any checks or balances – to hand over to one government agency.

Schools Can Refuse Religious Exemptions

Currently, there are four bills working their way through the state’s House and Senate. Two of the bills would eliminate the exemptions completely. But two “compromise” bills have also been introduced.

Senate Bill 1618 would technically keep the exemption but make it harder to get one. This bill requires all exemption requests to be ruled on by the MA Department of Public Health (DPH). But would a deep blue DPH – already hostile to vaccine exemptions – grant any exemptions? In my opinion, no.

With this bill, DPH can also prohibit schools from accepting religious exemption requests during a “public health emergency.” The bill also says that all schools, colleges, even private preschools and daycare centers, can refuse religious exemptions.

Schools will also be required to report the number of students who are vaccinated and how many have religious exemptions. If the DPH rules that any school has too many exemptions, the school will be labeled “high risk,” meaning less than 95% of its students are vaccinated to ensure “herd immunity.” Any high-risk school will be forced to notify all current and prospective parents. This proposal appears especially targeted at privately run religious schools.

The DPH will also require Elevated Risk Schools to exclude unvaccinated children in a “potential epidemic”. It’s the word potential that has many parents concerned.

Minors Can Consent Regardless of Age

In a brazen assault on the authority of parents to make decisions for their minor children, this bill would allow minors to consent to vaccination without any age requirement. Schools will not be required to gain parental consent or even inform the parents of their child’s decision to vaccinate.

What a demonic attack against the family. Already, Massachusetts courts allow school districts to gender transition children without their parents’ consent. See here.

If Mass SB1618 passes, children of any age can make their own medical decisions in secret. Imagine the pressure school districts, administrators, and teachers would now bring to bear on vulnerable children to disobey their parents, drawing a deeper wedge into the family. Imagine, first-graders consenting to a vaccine?

This bill could lay the groundwork for DPH to contact the Department of Children and Families to take children away from their parents who refuse to vaccinate their child for so-called “medical neglect.”

Public Shaming of Parents

In my opinion, the most horrendous component of this “compromise” bill is the parental public shaming that will become law. If this bill passes, parents who request a religious exemption will have to sign a DPH form stating that their refusal to vaccinate their child is against public health policy and puts others at risk of serious illness and death.

Now, like Hester Prynne in the novel, Scarlet Letter, written by Massachusetts own Nathanial Hawthorne, who was forced to wear a big red A on her clothing for committing her sin of adultery Massachusetts parents will be forced to have a big red U (for unvaccinated) attached to their child and family for the “sin” of not vaccinating their child.

Or like the Jews in Germany who were forced to wear the yellow star, Massachusetts will force parents to be labeled as the “dirty unvaccinated.”

Massachusetts is hoping to become the sixth state to ban religious exemptions outright. If any of the bills pass, the state will severely eliminate or restrict religious exemptions and force parents to sign a shaming statement.

These bills are government overreach at its worst. They are clearly gross religious discrimination and an assault on parental rights to make health decisions for their children.

Legislators Worried About HHS Secretary Kennedy

Massachusetts legislators are moving quickly to repeal religious exemptions because they’re concerned with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s somewhat skeptical stance on the safety of vaccines.

“With the national environment being a bit more hostile to vaccines, we feel like this is the time for Massachusetts to kind of protect itself and take a stand and pass this really strong legislation,” says Katie Blair, director of Massachusetts Families for Vaccines. Her group claims that “religious” exemptions in MA have risen by 500% over the past 40 years, while the number of people affiliated with any religion is in decline.

All 50 states have laws requiring certain vaccines for students to attend school. States usually follow guidelines set out by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

But on June 9th, Sec. Kennedy fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee, citing his concern for the panel’s ties to the pharmaceutical industry and the fact that they had all been appointed by the Biden administration.

“A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science,” said Secretary Kennedy. “The public must know that unbiased science – evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest – guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”

The Advisory Committee will “no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas,” he promised.

In May, Sec. Kennedy removed the recommendation of the COVID-19 vaccine being given to healthy children. Normally, the Advisory Committee would vote on the recommendation before a public announcement. Sec. Kennedy issued this new guidance without asking for a vote from the Advisory Committee. Biden’s CDC had recommended the COVID-19 vaccine for everyone six months and older.

One of the proponents of the MA bills, Dr. Richard Moriarty, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, is urging lawmakers to pass these bills. “I’m very concerned with the new people who are in charge of our health care,” he said. “There is no organized religion that preaches against vaccines, and we want to make sure that people are not using their religious exemption as something else.”

What’s Happening in Your State?

As of today, five states, California, New York, Maine, Connecticut, and West Virginia, ban all non-medical exemptions. Other states place restrictions.

For example, Louisiana and Minnesota require a written request and/or a notarized statement before permission is given.

In Hawaii, you need a signed form from a doctor. In Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, and Vermont, parents must complete an educational course on the risks and benefits of vaccines before a religious exemption request is granted.

In Oregon, both a signed form from a doctor and completion of an educational course are required.

Mississippi used to ban religious exemptions, but parents took the state to court in 2023, and a federal judge ruled the state must allow religious exemptions. However, parents are required to watch an educational video at a county health department before receiving the religious exemption.

Many states have pending legislation to eliminate or restrict religious exemptions.

For instance, Illinois has a bill that would require parents to seek a waiver from their state’s DPH and include a notarized signature from a “religious official” that their exemption request is “bona fide” religious. A New Jersey bill is requiring the same.

Maryland, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Vermont are seeking to repeal their religious exemptions.

Not Just Blue States

The trend of parents requesting religious exemptions from school vaccines is increasing. More states are reporting exemption rates greater than 5%. – What do they consider a risk to herd immunity? Combined with HHS Sec. Kennedy’s new leadership, many states are scrambling to end non-medical exemptions.

These are just a few examples of what is happening in the states to end religious liberty and curb parental rights. As you can see, eliminating religious exemptions to vaccines is not just happening in blue states. Red states are seeking to eliminate religious exemptions too.

To find out what’s happening in your state, go here and here.

Let Us Pray

1. Pray that legislators would seek God’s will and restore our Constitutionally-guaranteed rights as parents to make medical decisions for our children in the states where it is now banned.

2. Pray that this legislation will not pass in Massachusetts or in any state where religious exemption repeals are pending.

3. Pray that no state will ever seek to ban religious exemptions on any issue.

4. Pray for wisdom for parents to make the right health decisions for their child.

5. Pray against this demonic attack against families and any government scheme to wrest control of children away from their parents.

Add your own prayers in the comments below.

Belinda Brewster analyzes cultural, political, and world events from a biblical worldview. Belinda’s passion is to equip, support, and encourage parents and grandparents who are courageously battling against the spiritual and cultural forces impacting children and grandchildren. Photo Credit: FreshSplash/Getty Images.