What exemptions should exist for school vaccination requirements?

[greenforest32]

Currently only two states in the US (Mississippi and West Virginia) do not have religious or personal belief exemptions for school vaccination requirements: http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/school-immunization-exemption-state-laws.aspx

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[TNF]

Medical only.

Your religious delusions shouldn't put the community at risk.

[SWE]

Medical only.

Your religious delusions shouldn't put the community at risk.

[politicallefty]

Medical exemptions only. There is a push in the current California Legislature to move to that position and I do hope that it passes.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

In western countries genuine religious opposition to vaccination is typically held by such a small number of people that's not generally a big deal. The idea of a generic exemption for vaguely defined 'personal belief' is, however, deeply troubling...

[DC Al Fine]

In western countries genuine religious opposition to vaccination is typically held by such a small number of people that's not generally a big deal. The idea of a generic exemption for vaguely defined 'personal belief' is, however, deeply troubling...

I agree.

The implication being that we should make it difficult to do things without vaccinations without getting child services involved. The die hards will keep doing what they always do and the people who think it's icky will fall in line and preserve herd immunity.

[TDAS04]

Medical only.

[NerdyBohemian]

Medical only.

Your religious delusions shouldn't put the community at risk.

Secular law trumps religious law.

[Hatman 🍁]

Wait, WV and Mississippi are the only 2 states who are correct on an issue? Has hell frozen over?

[DC Al Fine]

Wait, WV and Mississippi are the only 2 states who are correct on an issue? Has hell frozen over?

This is a crunchy granola problem for the most part.

[politicallefty]

In western countries genuine religious opposition to vaccination is typically held by such a small number of people that's not generally a big deal. The idea of a generic exemption for vaguely defined 'personal belief' is, however, deeply troubling...

I question how you can truly separate personal opposition from religious opposition.

This is a crunchy granola problem for the most part.

I've seen a lot of data that doesn't suggest such a correlation. If anything, states that conservatives would generally criticize as being "crunchy granola", such as California and Oregon, are moving to towards a medical-only exemption.

[7,052,770]

Wait, WV and Mississippi are the only 2 states who are correct on an issue? Has hell frozen over?

This is a crunchy granola problem for the most part.

Not really. The reason Mississippi doesn't have a law allowing exceptions is because all the anti-vaxxers send their kids to segregationist private schools, or else homeschool. They were just debating this a few weeks ago, but there's not enough demand for it to pass.

[© tweed]

Medical only.

Your religious delusions shouldn't put the community at risk.

Secular law trumps religious law.

not universally.  see Wisconsin v. Yoder.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Medical for public school.

Students whose parents have religious exemptions can attend religious school, although I'm still sort of dicey about that. It's similar to parents who want to deny their kids vital medical treatment over religious beliefs.

[Del Tachi]

So is Mississippi finally a Freedom State for being on the right side of this issue?

[Donerail]

Medical only, but in practice I don't object to a religious exemption that's only going to be used by a handful of Dutch immigrants (even the Christian Scientists don't oppose vaccinations).

[Mercenary]

Medical only. If you oppose it on religious grounds, you can attend a religious school.
I would oppose government mandating religious schools require it though.

[angus]

So is Mississippi finally a Freedom State for being on the right side of this issue?

Depends upon what you consider to be the right side.  I'm in a minority here it seems, because I think that states have an obligation to educate, but also an obligation not to prohibit the exercise of one's religious beliefs.  It seems to me that the religious exemption is obviously valid.

I'm not sure exactly what "medical" or "philosophical" objections are, but I suppose that they should be taken on a case-by-case basis. 

I do think that we're becoming a very paranoid and litigious society, and the results of this poll bear that out.  I'd offer that MS and WV seem a even more paranoid than the rest, at least with regards to this issue.

[Slander and/or Libel]

What religions have objections to vaccination as a part of their doctrine?

[angus]

What religions have objections to vaccination as a part of their doctrine?

I was curious about this as well.  Among organized religions, I have only found two examples doing an internet search.  One is a small group of Calvinist Christians and another is a small group of orthodox Jews.  Neither group is very large so the exemption doesn't seem affected by the "herd" argument very much.  There may also be some cults not affiliated with known organized religions who also have religious rejections.  Of course my position would be the same whether the groups were large or small.  

[publicunofficial]

Honestly if they oppose it on religious grounds, they are also the kind of parents who think home-schooling is great.

[Slander and/or Libel]

What religions have objections to vaccination as a part of their doctrine?

I was curious about this as well.  Among organized religions, I have only found two examples doing an internet search.  One is a small group of Calvinist Christians and another is a small group of orthodox Jews.  Neither group is very large so the exemption doesn't seem affected by the "herd" argument very much.  There may also be some cults not affiliated with known organized religions who also have religious rejections.  Of course my position would be the same whether the groups were large or small. 

And the Amish, so I've heard. I don't think anybody really has a big problem with a small, insular group claiming a religious exemption. The more insular they are the more a lack of vaccination poses a problem to their own population, but as long as herd immunity levels are maintained, it doesn't really jeopardize the population at large.

[angus]

I don't think anybody really has a big problem with a small, insular group claiming a religious exemption...

Probably in real life a great majority of the population has no problem with religion exemptions in general, but I wasn't addressing my post to real life people.  I was addressing my post to Atlas Forum posters, 78 percent of whom are okay with "medical" exemptions ("I don't want my child to get Asperger's Syndrome") while only a few percent, about ten it appears, would allow for religious exemptions.  Still, stranger things have happened here, so I won't linger on that point.

I am not quite sure about the Amish, by the way.  A number of misconceptions exist regarding the Amish locally.  For example, it is very widely believed hereabouts that they do not pay taxes.  Like, they have some special deal with the state, federal, and county that exempts them.  It is not true, and I have posted of this before.  In fact, they pay a disproportionately large share in the county in which I live since what little they own is land, and that's what gets taxed by the school district.  Given that they never use public schools, this is a heavy burden for them.  Not that they shouldn't have to.  They live here so they pay taxes, but I don't think the vaccine exemption is even an issue for them since they don't use the public schools.  Whether they actually object to them is another matter.  I have the distinct impression that the Amish do not generally object to vaccinations on religious grounds, but I could be mistaken.  I understand that many locals do believe that Amish don't vaccinate their children, but many locals also believe a whole bunch of stuff about the Amish that is demonstrably false.

[politicus]

Wiki:

"A survey of Amish parents in Ohio published in Pediatrics in 2011 found that only 14 percent had not vaccinated their children. In addition, the study concluded that "The reasons that Amish parents resist immunizations mirror reasons that non-Amish parents resist immunizations." Similarly, a 2006 study by researchers from the CDC, based on a survey sent to residents of the largest Amish community in Illinois, concluded that the Amish may not object to vaccines very often, and that when they do so it may not be for religious reasons."

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Religion is a personal belief.