![]() ![]() The government has a compelling interest in preventing significant threats to other people’s health, and especially so in a pandemic. The Supreme Court has never been clear about the full range of what counts as “compelling,” but some cases are clear. ![]() ![]() The most stringent standard is that the government should not require people to violate their conscience without a compelling reason. There are a variety of ways to present a religious liberty claim, each with a different set of rules. But the legal basis of Americans’ supposed right to a religious exemption to vaccination is less clear than such policies’ popularity would suggest.Īs a lawyer and scholar who focuses on religious liberties, I have supported religious exemptions for a baker who refused to create a cake for a same-sex wedding, a family-owned business that refused to provide emergency contraception to its employees, a Muslim prisoner who was obligated to grow a beard and many others.Įven so, I believe that under the general law of religious liberty – including the Constitution and state and federal religious freedom laws – the government has an easy case to refuse religious exemptions from vaccines against infectious disease. ![]()
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