Vaccination and religion
Vaccination and religion have interrelations of varying kinds. No major religion prohibits
Historical
The influential Massachusetts preacher Cotton Mather was the first known person to attempt smallpox inoculation on a large scale, inoculating himself and more than two hundred members of his congregation with the help of a local doctor. While his view later became standard, there was a strong negative reaction against him at the time.[6]
You have done more good than you imagine; and for everyone you may have saved by your actual operation, you have saved ten by your example; and perhaps, next to Jenner, have been the means of saving more lives than any other individual.[9]
Several Boston clergymen and devout physicians formed a society that opposed vaccination in 1798.[10] Others complained that the practice was dangerous, going so far as to demand that doctors who carried out these procedures be tried for attempted murder.[11]
In 1804 during an outbreak of smallpox in New Spain Fr. Manuel Abad y Queipo personally paid for and brought the smallpox vaccine from the Capital to Valladolid[12]
In 1816 Iceland made the clergy responsible for smallpox vaccination and gave them the responsibility of keeping vaccination records for their parishes; Sweden also had similar practices.[13]
When vaccination was introduced into UK public policy, and adoption followed overseas, there was opposition from trade unionists and others, including sectarian ministers and those interested in self-help and alternative medicines like homeopathy.[14]
Catholic and Anglican missionaries vaccinated Northwest Coast Native Americans during an 1862 smallpox epidemic.[16]
In the
Jehovah's Witnesses condemned the practice of vaccination in 1931 as "a direct violation of the everlasting covenant that God made with Noah after the flood",[17] but reversed that policy in 1952. The decision of whether to vaccinate themselves or their family is left to individuals. Some more recent Jehovah's Witness publications have mentioned the success of vaccination programs.[18]
Current
This section needs to be updated.(March 2024) |
Some conservative Christian groups in the United States oppose mandatory vaccination for diseases typically spread via sexual contact, arguing that the possibility of disease deters risky sexual contact [citation needed]. For example, the Family Research Council opposes mandatory vaccination against HPV, a virus that causes [19][20] various cancers: "Our primary concern is with the message that would be delivered to nine- to twelve-year-olds with the administration of the vaccines. Care must be taken not to communicate that such an intervention makes all sex 'safe'."[21][22][23] Studies have shown that HPV vaccination does not result in increased sexual activity.[24] Other Christians have supported vaccinations and mask wearing in the wake of COVID-19 to stop the spread of the disease, even using scripture to support the position.[25][26]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made vaccination an official initiative in its humanitarian relief program.[30][31] The Church has also called on its members to see that their own children are properly vaccinated.[32] In March 2021, the Church added encouragement to vaccinate to its General Handbook of Instructions, noting that "Vaccinations administered by competent medical professionals protect health and preserve life. ... Members of the Church are encouraged to safeguard themselves, their children, and their communities through vaccination."[33] In August 2021, the Church again encouraged vaccination, specifically against COVID-19, in a public statement from the First Presidency: "We know that protection from [Covid and its variants] can only be achieved by immunizing a very high percentage of the population.... To provide personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to be vaccinated."[34]
Although the Church of Christ, Scientist encourages reliance on prayer, it does not forbid vaccination or any other medical practice,[35][36][37][38] and in 2015 it did not renew its application for religious exemption for vaccinations in Australia because it deemed the exemption "no longer current or necessary".[39]
The Congregation of Universal Wisdom, a religion based on belief in chiropractic spinal adjustments and Universal Intelligence, forbids vaccinations.[40][41] The New York Times covered the Congregation of Universal Wisdom and noted that many families have used these religious memberships to avoid vaccination requirements.[42] In a court case citing the Congregation of Universal Wisdom, Turner v. Liverpool Cent. School, the United States District Court in New York affirmed the permissibility of claiming religious exemption from vaccination on the basis of such membership.[43]
The
Political opposition to vaccination by religious groups
Opposition to vaccination by Orthodox Jews is not a widespread phenomenon. The majority of Orthodox Rabbis view vaccination as a religious obligation.[46] A magazine called P.E.A.C.H. that presented an anti-immunization message to Orthodox Jews was distributed in Brooklyn, New York in early 2014. 96% of students at Yeshivas (who are essentially all Orthodox Jewish) in New York City were immunized according to information obtained in 2014, although this is a lower than average rate.[47]
In 2003 imams in northern Nigeria advised their followers not to have their children vaccinated with oral polio vaccine, perceived to be a plot by Westerners to decrease Muslim fertility.[48] The boycott caused the number of polio cases to rise not only in Nigeria but also in neighboring countries. The followers were also wary of other vaccinations, and Nigeria reported more than twenty thousand measles cases and nearly six hundred deaths from measles from January through March 2005.[49] In 2006 Nigeria accounted for more than half of all new polio cases worldwide.[50] Outbreaks continued thereafter; for example, at least 200 children died in a late-2007 measles outbreak in Borno State.[51] In 2013, nine health workers administering polio vaccine were targeted and killed by gunmen on motorcycles in Kano, but this was an isolated incident.[52][53] Local traditional and religious leaders and polio survivors worked to support the vaccination campaign,[54] and Nigeria has not had a polio case since July 24, 2014; in 2016, Nigeria was declared polio-free.[55]
In the 2000s, in
In 2015, leaders of the Nation of Islam spoke out against a California Bill that removed philosophical exemptions to school vaccination requirements,[63] alleging a link between MMR vaccine and autism. They also said that government mandated vaccines were another Tuskegee Syphilis Study.[64]
According to a March 2021 poll conducted by The Associated Press/NORC, vaccine skepticism is more widespread among white evangelicals than most other blocs of Americans. 40% of white evangelical Protestants stated they weren't likely to get vaccinated against COVID-19.[65]
Exemptions
In the U.S., all states except Mississippi, California, West Virginia, Maine and New York allow parents to exempt their children from otherwise-required vaccinations for religious reasons.[66] The number of religious exemptions rose greatly in the late 1990s and early 2000s; for example, in Massachusetts, the rate of those seeking exemptions rose from 0.24% in 1996 to 0.60% in 2006.[67] Some parents falsely claim religious beliefs to get exemptions.[68] The American Medical Association opposes such exemptions, saying that they endanger health not only for the unvaccinated individual but also for neighbors and the community at large.[69]
On January 1, 2016, Australia introduced legislation that removed eligibility for childcare and welfare benefits if parents refuse to vaccinate their children, removing religious exemptions at the same time as the only religion to apply for an exemption (Church of Christ, Scientist) deemed their exemption to no longer be relevant.[39]
References
- ^ McNeil, Donald G. Jr. (26 April 2019). "Religious Objections to the Measles Vaccine? Get the Shots, Faith Leaders Say". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- ^ "Parents Fake Religion To Avoid Vaccines". CBS News / AP. October 17, 2007.
- ^ Medew, Julia (2015-01-28). "Anti-vaccination group encourages parents to join church". Sydney morning Herald.
- ^ "Anti-vaccination group encourages parents to join fake church". Sydney Morning Herald. 2015-01-28. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
- ^ Pastor offers to sign vaccine exemptions in exchange for becoming online member of his church, The Hill
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- ^ Andrew Dickson White (1896). "Theological opposition to inoculation, vaccination, and the use of anæsthetics". A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom. Appleton. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
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- ^ Durbach, Nadja. 2005. Bodily matters: the anti-vaccination movement in England, 1853–1907. Radical perspectives. Durham: Duke University Press. pp. 40–45.
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- ^ Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, "Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of the Lord Thy God in Vain: Use and Abuse of Religious Exemptions from School Immunization Requirements", Hastings Law Journal, Vol. 65, Iss. 6 (2013), p. 1583.
- ^ About the Jehovah's Witnesses Christian denomination – Past opposition to vaccinations, religioustolerance.org
- ^ "Human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer". WHO. June 2016. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016.
- ^ "The Link Between HPV and Cancer". CDC. September 30, 2015. Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- ^ "Pinkbook – HPV – Epidemiology of Vaccine Preventable Diseases – CDC". www.cdc.gov. 2019-09-25.
- ^ Danny Fortson (2006-06-11). "Moral majority take on GSK and Merck over cancer drugs". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2006-11-02.
- ^ Sprigg P (2006-07-15). "Pro-family, pro-vaccine – but keep it voluntary". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
- ^ "HPV Vaccination Does Not Lead to Increased Sexual Activity". www.aap.org.
- ^ White, Lesli. "Should Christians Get the COVID 19 Vaccine?". beliefnet.com.
- ^ Wildes, Kevin. "Christian Morality and the COVID-19 Vaccine". berkleycenter.georgetown.edu. Berkley.
- ^ Mynors G, Ghalamkari H, Beaumont S, Powell S, McGee P (2004). "Drugs of porcine origin and their clinical alternatives: an introductory guide" (PDF). National Prescribing Centre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
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- ^ Hasanudin Aco (April 3, 2015). "80 Percent of Acehnese Consider Immunization Haram, This is the Reason".
- ^ "Senior Church leaders receive COVID-19 vaccine, encourage members to safeguard themselves, others 'through immunization'". Church News. 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ^ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Church Makes Immunizations an Official Initiative, Provides Social Mobilization". Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ "Immunize Children, Leaders Urge", Liahona, July 1978 (accessed 2 August 2012).
- ^ "See the March 2021 Update to the General Handbook". Newsroom. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "The Church Urges More Action to Limit the Spread of COVID-19". newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org. 2021-08-12. Retrieved 2021-08-27.
- ^ Schoepflin, Rennie B. (2003). Christian Science on Trial: Religious Healing in America. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 192–193
- ^ Trammell, Mary M. (March 26, 2010). "Letter; What the Christian Science Church Teaches". The New York Times.
- ^ Livio, Susan K (2014-11-19). "Nearly 9,000 N.J. school children skipped vaccinations on religious grounds last year". Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ^ "Outbreak of Measles Among Christian Science Students – Missouri and Illinois, 1994". Retrieved 2015-03-11.
- ^ a b "religious exemption removed".
- ^ Congregation of Universal Wisdom, Congregation of Universal Wisdom, retrieved April 11, 2015
- ^ Kellner, Mark (February 7, 2015), 'Religious' objections to vaccinations? There really aren't any, Deseret News, archived from the original on October 3, 2016, retrieved April 11, 2015
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- ^ Turner v. Liverpool Cent. School, 186 F. Supp.2d 187 (N.D.N.Y. 2002)
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- ^ a b Pontifical Academy for Life (2005). "Moral reflections on vaccines prepared from cells derived from aborted human foetuses". Medicina e Morale. Center for Bioethics, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. Archived from the original on 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
- ^ "Statement on Vaccinations from the OU and Rabbinical Council of America". Orthodox Union. 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- ^ Nathan-Kazis, Josh (2014-09-17). "Are Ultra-Orthodox Turning Away From Vaccination?". Forward. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- ^ "Muslim Clerics Finally Embrace Polio Campaign". NBC News. 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
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- ^ "Nigeria marks one year without recorded polio case". BBC News. 2015-07-24.
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- ^ Carroll, James (2014-10-27). "Mistrust and polio in Pakistan". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- ^ Shah, Saeed (2011-07-11). "CIA organised fake vaccination drive to get Osama bin Laden's family DNA". The Guardian. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
- ^ "Afghanistan polio: First case in Kabul since 2001". BBC News. 2014-02-11.
- ^ "Nation Of Islam Leader Voices Opposition To Mandatory Vaccine Bill". CBS Los Angeles.
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H-440.970 Religious Exemptions from Immunizations