BOSTON (LifeSiteNews) — A bill now being considered by the Massachusetts legislature would mean the end of religious exemptions from mandated school vaccines. 

“Parents should not be forced to give their children a vaccine that conflicts with their deeply-held religious beliefs,” declared a statement from the Massachusetts Family Institute.  

According to Health Action MA (HAMA), the serious harms embedded in H.2554, “An Act Relative to Routine Childhood Immunizations,” are manifold.

The bill would permanently remove the religious exemption from Massachusetts school immunization requirements for all K—12 students, prohibiting children from attending public, private, or charter schools if their families decline vaccines on religious grounds.

HAMA describes the bill as “dangerous,” an “unprecedented infringement on First Amendment protections in the Commonwealth.”

Families who decline vaccination for their children on religious grounds would have to homeschool, regardless of the child’s specific needs, IEP status, or family capacity. 

HAMA predicts that if enacted, the bill would “open the door to reputational harm and community targeting” if schools are required to report and publish detailed immunization and medical exemption data.  

The group predicts that the measure would also set the stage “for future state surveillance and revocation of valid medical exemptions.”

The measure would likely disproportionately impact at-risk children – i.e., students with disabilities, medical complexity, or trauma histories – who may face exclusion, denial of education, or forced medical interventions.

The bill has been voted out favorably by the Joint Committee on Public Health and has now moved to the House Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling.

“This committee assignment suggests the bill could be scheduled for a House floor vote,” explained an urgent update by HAMA posted on X. “While it could stall in this committee, it may also be scheduled for a full House floor vote, where it must pass multiple readings before moving to the Senate. If the Senate and House versions differ, it may head to Conference Committee. These next steps are critical—and the bill could move quickly.”