religious exemption to vaccines example letter

Constitution’s First Amendment requires state accommodation of individuals who object to vaccinations on religious grounds. The government should not impose the COVID-19 vaccines on its citizens.” įurthermore, the free-exercise clause of the U.S. However, if individuals have serious moral objections or health concerns about vaccines, those concerns should be respected by society and government, and those individuals should not be forced into vaccination, contrary to their conscience. “The bishops of Colorado affirm that the use of some COVID-19 vaccines is morally acceptable under certain circumstances…. The Catholic Bishops of Colorado have affirmed this in two letters dated Decemand March 17, 2021, concerning COVID-19 vaccines, stating: The judgment of therapeutic proportionality must be made by the person who is the potential recipient of the intervention, not by public health authorities or by other individuals who might judge differently in their own situations. Therapeutic proportionality is an assessment of whether the benefits of a medical intervention outweigh the undesirable side-effects and burdens in light of the integral good of the person, including spiritual, psychological, and bodily goods. More generally, a Catholic might refuse a vaccine based on the Church’s teachings concerning therapeutic proportionality. An individual Catholic may invoke Church teaching to refuse a vaccine that used abortion-derived cell lines at any stage of the creation of the vaccine. Ī Catholic may judge it wrong to receive certain vaccines for a variety of reasons consistent with these teachings, and there is no authoritative Church teaching universally obliging Catholics to receive any vaccine. A person is morally required to obey his or her conscience.A person’s assessment of whether the benefits of a medical intervention outweigh the undesirable side-effects are to be respected unless they contradict authoritative Catholic moral teachings.There is a moral duty to refuse the use of medical products, including certain vaccines, that are created using human cells lines derived from abortion however, it is permissible to use such vaccines only under case-specific conditions-if there are no other alternatives available and the intent is to preserve life.Vaccination is not morally obligatory in principle and so must be voluntary.While the Catholic Church does not prohibit the use of most vaccines, and generally encourages them to safeguard personal and public health, the following authoritative Church teachings demonstrate the principled religious basis on which a Catholic may determine that he or she ought to refuse certain vaccines:

The Catholic Church teaches that a person may be required to refuse a medical intervention, including a vaccination, if his or her conscience comes to this judgment. This letter explains how the Catholic Church’s teachings may lead individual Catholics, including, to decline certain vaccines. is a baptized Catholic seeking a religious exemption from an immunization requirement. Individuals wishing to seek an exemption should take the letter to a member of clergy in their local diocese and ask if they will sign it.DownloadEn Español

NOTE: Neither the Colorado Catholic Conference nor the bishops or clergy of Colorado can sign this letter for Catholics outside of their dioceses.

Religious exemption to vaccines example letter