We need your help to stop two bad vaccine bills in Hawaii!

Hawaii’s legislators are considering two bills that would violate your religious rights by eliminating religious exemptions to vaccinations for schoolchildren.

HB 1118 and its companion bill, SB 1437, would remove the religious exemption for vaccinations mandated by schools for children attending any public school governed by the Department of Education or any charter school in the state.

Children attending school with an approved religious exemption for the 2024-2045 school year would be permitted to stay in school.

The exception in these bills to grandfather children with existing religious exemptions places families who choose not to vaccinate due to religious beliefs in a difficult position, where one or more of their children have the right to attend school while another may not. The right to a religious exemption should not depend on a child’s birthdate.

These bills violate the individual’s right to freedom of religion and discriminate against individuals based solely on their religious beliefs.

They are part of the “governor’s package,” a collection of proposed bills constituting Governor Josh Green’s legislative agenda.

HB 1118 was recommended to pass with some amendments by the House Health Committee (HLT) on Friday, February 7, 2025.

Help us STOP these fast-moving harmful vaccine bills today!

TAKE ACTION

Contact your Hawaii State Representative and Senator and urge him/her to OPPOSE HB. 1118 (or SB. 1437) today.

You can look up who represents you at:

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/contact.aspx or https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/members/legislators.aspx?chamber=H

Calls are more effective than emails and only take a few minutes. Below is a sample script along with additional Talking Points. Use your own words when you call or email – a personal message is always more effective than a form message!

SAMPLE SCRIPT:

“Hi, my name is ____, and I am a constituent. I am calling to ask Representative (or Senator) ____ to OPPOSE HB. 1118 (or SB. 1437), which would eliminate religious exemptions for school children.

This bill infringes on fundamental religious freedom by compelling individuals to receive pharmaceutical products against their sincerely held beliefs.

I am opposed to any bills that would place restrictions on religious vaccine exemptions.

West Virginia and Mississippi now allow religious exemptions for school vaccinations, leaving California, Maine, New York, and Connecticut as the only states without such exemptions. The trend is clearly toward allowing religious exemptions to vaccination.

These bills authorize state-mandated vaccine status discrimination and are no different from any other form of discrimination that denies access to education or other accommodations based on race or sex. The individual’s right to religious liberty is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, Article I, Section 4.

I urge Representative (or Senator) _____ to OPPOSE HB. 1118 (or SB. 1437), which would jeopardize the ability of parents to claim religious vaccine exemptions for their children.”

TALKING POINTS:

Keep your call or email short! Pick the 2 or 3 talking points that are most important to you, and be sure to explain why this issue matters to you personally.

Last month, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order allowing religious exemptions from mandatory school vaccinations, ending one of the country’s most restrictive vaccination policies. West Virginia legislators are expected to introduce a bill to codify that executive order into law.

These bills threaten religious freedom. Hawaii should not interfere in a decision that is a parent’s right to make for their minor children, guided by their religious beliefs.

The vaccination rate for children in Hawaii is already high at 94.8 percent. Religious exemptions have not created a public health issue.

Vaccines are medical procedures that carry a risk of serious injury. The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes vaccines to be “unavoidably unsafe” and to cause injury and death in some recipients. The U.S. Government has paid out approximately $5.2 billion to the victims of vaccine injury.

Vaccinated individuals can pose a greater risk to public health due to the shedding of live “virus” vaccines, such as MMR and chickenpox.

These bills discriminate against children and families who refuse vaccinations based on religious beliefs by barring them from public education.

The claimed justification – that unvaccinated individuals pose a health risk to others – is unsupported in the medical literature. In fact, vaccinated individuals can pose a greater risk to public health due to a process known as shedding. Scientific evidence demonstrates that individuals vaccinated with live virus vaccines such as MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), rotavirus, chicken pox, shingles, and influenza can shed the virus for many weeks or months afterward and infect the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. https://www.westonaprice.org/studies-show-that-vaccinated-individuals-spread-disease/

Vaccines are medical procedures that carry risk of serious injury. The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes vaccines to be “unavoidably unsafe” and to cause injury and death in some recipients. The U.S. Government has paid out approximately $5.2 billion to the victims of vaccine injury. Hundreds of thousands have reported an adverse reaction to vaccination to VAERS. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/ensuringsafety/monitoring/vaers/

MORE INFORMATION

Learn more about the bills here:

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?year=2025&billtype=HB&billnumber=1118 – text, status, and history of HB 1118

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=1437&year=2025 – text, status, and history of SB 1437

Read this article to understand better why parents may wish to opt out of vaccines for their children for religious reasons: : https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/use-of-aborted-fetal-tissue-in-vaccines/

Thank you for taking action to protect religious freedom and parental rights in Hawaii!

🖨️ Print post