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Religion Invoked To Avoid Vaccines

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The Associated Press

Published: October 18, 2007

BOSTON - Sabrina Rahim doesn't practice any particular faith, but she had no problem signing a letter declaring that because of her religious beliefs, her 4-year-old son should be exempt from the vaccinations required for preschool.

She is among a small but growing number of parents across the country who are claiming religious exemptions to avoid vaccinating their children when the real reason may be skepticism or concern they can cause other illnesses.

Some of these parents say they are being forced to lie because of the way the state vaccination laws are written.

'It's misleading,' Rahim admitted, but she said she fears that earlier vaccinations may be to blame for her son's autism. 'I find it very troubling, but for my son's safety, I feel this is the only option.'

An Associated Press examination of states' vaccination records and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that many states are seeing increases in the rate of religious exemptions claimed for kindergartners.

'Do I think that religious exemptions have become the default? Absolutely,' said Paul Offit, head of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and a harsh critic of the anti-vaccine movement. He said the resistance to vaccines is 'an irrational, fear-based decision.'

The number of exemptions is extremely small in percentage terms and represents just a few thousand of the 3.7 million children entering kindergarten in 2005, the most recent figure available.

Twenty-eight states, including Florida, allow parents to opt out for medical or religious reasons only. In Florida, 1,249 children claimed religious exemptions in 2006, almost double the 661 who did so just four years earlier.

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