Religious exemptions to vaccines is bad religion

This year alone, more than 1,000 people contracted measles and several dozen have been hospitalized. This is the worst episode in 27 years. Fortunately, to date, no one has died. In response, New York State ended the religious exemption clause for vaccine requirements. California, Mississippi, and West Virginia already have similar laws in place.

I am an ordained Christian minister who serves an urban congregation. As a deeply religious Christian, I am sensitive to government encroachment of religious liberty. However, I am also a primary care physician who believes deeply in the lifesaving power of vaccines. As a physician, I have been at the bedside of patients who have died from routinely preventable diseases. As I balance my religious commitments with care for my patients, I believe that the lifesaving power of vaccines trumps religious freedom.

Prior to the advent of vaccines, children routinely died of measles, diphtheria, polio, and influenza. Measles continues to be a worldwide threat, killing more than 100,000 people each year. While a simple vaccine prevents measles, it is highly infectious for the unvaccinated. According to the CDC, an infected person can spread the virus for four days prior to the onset of symptoms. Ninety of those close to the infected person will become infected.

The great influenza pandemic of 1918 infected onethird of the world’s population (around 500 million people). More than 50 million people died. My grandmother told stories of the devastation of her Brooklyn neighborhood, and how her brother barely survived, taking months to recover. A vaccine to prevent this scourge would have been heralded as a miracle. The influenza pandemic is an ominous reminder of how terrible an outbreak can be.

Since the advent of vaccines, the most deadly of these illnesses have largely disappeared. It has been decades since I last saw a child with chicken pox. Measles was declared eradicated in 2000 — until now. We have become immune (pun intended) to the horrors of these infections because we no longer routinely see them. Instead, we judge vaccines as harmful rather than the diseases they prevent. To be sure, some will cite supposed dangers to vaccines — citing links to autism or autoimmune disorders. However, these allegations have been largely disproven in large, careful, comprehensive studies. Actual allergic reactions are exceedingly rare.

Some consider holy scripture as sacrosanct endorsement to refuse vaccines. The only problem: The holy scriptures of major American religions were written hundreds, if not thousands of years ago, before germ theory existed, before the very idea of vaccines. How does one apply ancient scripture to modern science? Indeed, some scripture — such as food cleanliness laws — could easily be interpreted as endorsing vaccine administration. What religion would voluntarily put thousands of people at risk of death and disease? Every religion makes a strong claim for the peace and welfare of the world. How could a religious person — of any religion — take a stand to put others at risk?

Many are rightfully concerned about the “slippery slope” of government encroachment of religious liberty. Vaccines today, what tomorrow? In the case of vaccines, this argument is thin. The benefit to society — even our own children — far outweighs any benefit of personal liberty. Our government’s approach to religious liberty is complicated. If a religious belief does not harm the common good, most laws affirm such freedoms. But when it comes to the common good, it is fair to engage with religious belief in a thoughtful, respectful way.

What is it about a particular religious belief that prevents you from receiving a vaccine? Does anyone in your faith tradition endorse vaccine administration? Is vaccine refusal a personal preference masking as religious belief ? Vaccines represent an important, unique case in this dialogue of religious liberty and the common good. We should recognize the importance of the public good and endorse dispatching the religious exemption clause. Religious exemption is bad religion.