Most requests were written by Catholics and evangelical Christians. “They didn’t want to vaccinate and went looking for something that sounds convincing as a way to get out of it.” “It seems that many of these people were not acting for sincere religious reasons,” Reiss said.

But, she said, it’s likely that many copy-and-paste exemptions are simply a means to an end.

and America’s Frontline Doctors.įorm letters may help some devout people articulate complicated but legitimate views, said Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Hastings College of the Law who studies legal issues related to vaccines. Others lifted language from anti-vaccination groups such as Children’s Health Defense - chaired by Robert F. Several letters reviewed by The Times included statements identical to those on the website of Defending the Republic, a Texas organization led by Sidney Powell, a conspiracy theorist and lawyer connected to former President Trump. But the majority of exemption requests reviewed by The Times were copied from letters posted on websites of evangelical churches, conservative legal groups and fee-based organizations such as True Hope Ministry. Some employees at the DWP, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and two Southern California school districts cited Scripture and described their relationships with their faith.

They also reveal a cottage industry that has sprung up to help people justify decisions to refuse vaccination. The documents, from four public employers, show just how complicated it can be to review vaccine exemption requests. Through public records requests, The Times amassed more than 2,200 pages of emails, letters and other records related to religious waivers from vaccine rules.

Religious exemption for vaccines letter