If you’re reading this, chances are you or someone you love are facing the very real possibility of losing your job, maybe even your career. You’re wondering what you’ll do next and how you’ll provide for yourself and your family. You may be reading through tears. You may be far past the tears and just angry. Now you’re faced with having to prove your religious convictions and in many ways, this is just too much. You many be asking yourself, “where do I even begin”?

Well, this article is for you. It’s here to give you help and suggestions when writing and submitting your own religious exemption letter to your employer. It may feel like a daunting or scary task, but hopefully this will ease the stress.

Here are some things to consider.

First, there are only 2 requirements for a religious exemption:

1. It has to be about your personal religious beliefs (not that of your church or any organized religion), and
2. Your beliefs have to be sincerely held

Second, there are 3 important parts to communicate in your letter requesting a religious exemption:

1. Share what you believe (try to be as specific as you can when stating your belief(s), and try to back them up with something that supports the reason for your belief, like a bible verse)
2. Share how your religious belief is opposed to vaccines or how vaccines violate your religious faith (try to make a clear connection between your religious beliefs and how they would be violated by taking a vaccine)
3. Conclude with a definitive statement (at the end of your letter, make a clear conclusion with an absolute statement objecting to the vaccine, saying something like “so I can’t take it” or “my religious beliefs prevent me from getting the vaccine” or “therefore I cannot take the vaccine”)

Example religious exemption letter

Below is an example of an exemption letter. Please change it and make it personal to you. Remember, it’s important to show your beliefs are sincerely held. Writing your own personal letter demonstrates your sincerity. Simply copying someone else’s letter or signing at the bottom of a form letter may actually undermine the sincerity you want to show. It’s ok to use other letters as inspiration, but nothing is as strong as your own words. Letters from churches or religious leaders can be useful as supportive or follow-up documents if they should they be needed after your letter is submitted.

Attorneys helping with religious exemption cases

• The Liberty Counsel has a dedicated page to help with religious exemptions. It’s a great place for even more information and sample letters. Also, if you feel like you need legal assistance, you can request help by filling out their online form
• The law firm of Siri & Glimstad has a vaccine exemptions page and detailed FAQ pages for religious vaccine exemptions in the workplace and in schools and universities, as well as immigration exemptions. They also offer paid legal help with your exemption process.

More resources

January 13, 2020. An historic day. Thousands gathered at the New Jersey state capital for the largest and longest protest in Statehouse history. What would draw such a large crowd from dawn to dusk on a cold winter day to peacefully but powerfully communicate to their legislators?

Religious freedom.

New Jersey’s bill, S2173, threatened their free exercise of religion by attempting to remove their right to use a religious vaccine exemption.

Some read that and wonder why one would need a religious exemption from vaccines. Some have read or heard that religious exemptions are typically used by parents who do not want to be inconvenienced by having to take their child to the doctor to be vaccinated. They wonder if a religious exemption is just an easy excuse for parents not to do their job.

The actions of the thousands standing outside the Capital speak volumes and tell us a different story. Their actions do not fit the stereotypes. The thousands of people in the picture above chose to be inconvenienced and put their lives on hold, taking time during the middle of their week, missing work and other obligations. These are parents who care, parents who have very often taken significant time to understand vaccine ingredients, their potential impact on the body, and their faith. These are parents of integrity who want their actions to reflect their internal faith beliefs.

The crowd at Trenton represented diverse religious and political views. Christians, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, and many other faiths hold different and sometimes contradictory views. Yet in the area of vaccines they are linking arms, fighting to protect their common interest – practicing their religion without violating their conscience and faith. What do they consider a threat to their conscience? Being forced to use vaccines that contain ingredients they find objectionable, such as aborted fetal cells and fetal bovine serum, etc.

New Jerseyans are not alone in their fight for religious freedom. California, Maine, Mississippi, New York, and West Virginia only allow medical exemptions. Religious freedom has already been lost in 5 states. Other states are also fighting to keep their religious rights, including Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, and Washington. Still others have legislators considering introducing similar bills to remove religious vaccine exemptions.

Why the push to remove religious exemptions?

Elimination of religious exemptions is THE top priority of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

During their annual leadership meeting in March 2019, the AAP discussed the most pressing issues facing American children. Their conclusion was not what one might expect. Their top priority was not childhood cancer (the 2nd leading cause of death in children) or the rising rates of autoimmune diseases (such as juvenile diabetes, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, or celiac disease).

Of all the deeply concerning medical issues plaguing the sickest generation of American children, the AAP’s top priority from that meeting was the elimination of religious vaccine exemptions.

The AAP published its resolutions in an article, which initially was entitled, “Elimination of religious vaccine exemptions ranked top priority at Annual Leadership Forum.” The title was later changed to replace “religious vaccine exemptions” with the phrase “non-medical exemptions.”

The AAP’s priority of removing all religious and personal exemptions is being attempted or realized in many states already. If proposed legislation has not come to your state yet, it will.

Find more information through the resources below.

1. Abortion, the human fetal cell industry, and vaccines white paper
2. Father Michael Copenhagen’s testimony to the legislators in Trenton, NJ (47:49 -51:43)
3. Jewish Rabbi’s testimony to the legislators in Trenton, NJ (1:40:28-1:45:15)

I want to let you know about some important research out of Italy. Corvelva is an Italian organization with one of the few independent labs in the world capable of analyzing vaccine contents. Corvelva’s lab analyzed Priorix Tetra – GlaxoSmithKlein’s measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox vaccine – which is made using the MRC-5 human fetal cell line.

Their analysis found 360,000 fetal cells in the vaccine. Researchers did a complete genome sequencing of the Priorix vaccine, and found the entire human genome sequence of a male. This is consistent with what we already know about MRC-5 being derived from the lung tissue of an aborted male at 3 1/2 months gestation. It also found high rates of abnormality in the genetic code, and 560 genes linked to cancer.

Please take a few minutes to watch this powerful video summarizing Corvelva’s research that was presented at the Italian National Biologist’s Chamber conference on January 25, 2019. Corvelva’s paper, Vaccinegate: MRC-5 Contained in Priorix Tetra – Complete Genome Sequencing, is also available on its website and provides the detailed scientific research.

For more details about Corvelva’s research, please see the following:

• Corvelva’s Press Conference in January 2019 sharing more details about their research.
• Researcher Loretta Bolgan’s presentation sharing an update on Corvelva’s analysis on September 27, 2019. While the video is in Italian, the text summary that follows is an helpful snapshot of their findings.

*Post updated 1.12.21. See footnote.
Jump straight to White Paper

This post is an introduction to a white paper I’ve written (available in English and Deutsche). For anyone wanting more research and science about abortion, human fetal cell lines and vaccines, this paper is for you.

This project unexpectedly fell into my lap because of my child’s health crisis, stumping doctors nearly a decade ago. Exploratory surgery was recommended, and questions arose: Was it food intake? Was it allergies or medication side effects? Was the body interacting badly with a medication or vaccine? I started on a journey to find answers where all these questions and more were explored.

At first, the vaccine question seemed easiest to answer. Surely, I thought, it was just water and a weakened version of the virus. So I turned to the most reputable source I knew to investigate the ingredients – the Centers for Disease Control website. That was when I first saw the words, “normal human diploid cells.”

What? Why was the word “human” listed in multiple vaccines’ ingredients? Attempting to answer this initial question snowballed into years of combing through scientific literature dating back to the 1930s. It revealed a 60-year link between vaccines and the abortion industry, clearly demonstrating the reliance many vaccines have on human fetal cell lines. These fetal cell lines are created from aborted babies and used in the production of vaccines. My reading not only revealed the use of abortions in vaccine research and development, but other disturbing details, such as the deception of expectant mothers, the mistreatment of aborted babies (sometimes born and dissected alive) and the trafficking of and profiting from aborted babies’ organs, tissues and body parts.

This long history, plainly chronicled in scientific journals, directly contradicts the modern narrative that researchers used only two aborted children during vaccination development in the 1960s. Instead, they used hundreds – and still counting.

I have two purposes for writing this paper. The first was born out of the realization that many Christians and Christian ministries have unknowingly repeated this false narrative intentionally propagated by the abortion industry to cover up a sordid history. As a pro-life Christian, I want to provide an accurate history for those who care about or have spoken about this issue. Like me, many may not realize how the promotion of vaccines using human fetal cell lines may undermine their overall efforts to stop the legalization of abortion and the legislation surrounding it.

My second purpose centers upon a recent legislative push to remove parental rights by eliminating religious exemptions for vaccines. Prior to learning the history of vaccines, I didn’t understand why someone would want to exercise a religious exemption. It has become clear to me how pro-life Christians can hold legitimate biblical convictions against the use of aborted babies to create human fetal cell lines used in the production of today’s vaccines. State and federal legislators need factual data – substantiated by science – to present an accurate history of the use of aborted babies in vaccine development.

I pray this information may open your eyes and motivate you to action as it has me.

We all deserve to know the truth.

*1.12.21 Update: Since the onset of COVID-19, there are now many COVID-19 vaccines using aborted fetal cell lines either in the production of the vaccine itself or in the research, development, or testing. These include the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines already in use under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (EAU) AND vaccines still in development. Click here to learn more.

*Post updated 1.12.21. See footnote.

Sitting with two precious women many years ago in the midst of their deepest grief profoundly impacted me. One grieved over a loss she couldn’t control, and the other grieved over her loss years before due to a choice. Yet they both grieved. One struggled with infertility and when she joyfully finally conceived, her precious children were miscarried. The other found herself in an unexpected, difficult situation and made the only choice she felt she had at the time, but deeply grieved that decision later. Both lost their babies.

I was honored to be present for one of those sacred times. I saw the twins, beautifully-formed and perfect, lying together. The powerful image of life created by God, however small, yet infinitely valuable is burned in my heart and mind. Though they joined heaven long before my friend was ready to say goodbye, those moments were a profound commingling of wonder and sorrow. The weight of such an intimate moment left me speechless and yet feeling so privileged to be there. We cried together when no words could be found.

This blog is written with the desire to honor life. It’s not intended to attack, demean or hurt anyone. Instead, I write to expose hidden truths that grieve me deeply. The saying, “Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes”, is one I identify with as I type. By God’s grace, I want to share what I’ve learned to help more people understand the inner workings of an industry we often implicitly trust without a second thought.

Current events have stirred up a renewed fervor, opening up conversations around issues of life. Regardless of your political perspective, it’s been difficult to ignore changes in New York’s abortion laws and proposed changes in Virginia. The debate centers around whether a woman has the right to terminate her pregnancy at any point – even up until the day of birth.

On the heels of this expanding abortion legislation, my heart is deeply grieved. Grieved for the lives that will be lost due to this new found “freedom”. Grieved over the slow and collective deception of so many in our country. The deception runs so deep that our elected leaders passed the act in NY with smiles while receiving praise by many in the media.

There are many reading this blog who deeply value life at its inception, its end, and all points in-between. Perhaps, like me, from a young age, you’ve had a tender, protective place in your heart for the unborn, the elderly, the disabled, and those broken-hearted and struggling in countless seen and unseen ways. It is for this reason my heart sank one day while reading a journal article from the 1960s. What I learned was almost impossible to believe. Since the 1960’s fetal cell lines from aborted babies have been used for the research and production of the vaccines we use today. My eyes were opened, and my heart broke. The tears flowed on reading the cold manner in which researchers reported the utilitarian use of human lives taken too early.

Today, my heart is to share with those who deeply value life what I have learned through peer-reviewed science. I was surprised to learn the researchers didn’t even try to hide it back in the 1960s. They often listed the age and gender of the child… sometimes even with information about the baby’s mother. At least one of those researchers, Dr. Stanley Plotkin, was and is a self-avowed atheist. As recently as a 2018 deposition, he acknowledged taking issue with religion and showed disgust for people of faith to the point of laughing as he said he’d gladly go to hell for the babies’ lives taken in the name of research.

As one whose worldview is informed through the lens of God’s heart and His words in the Bible, I had somehow allowed the research and recommendations of an atheist to deceive my thinking. The thoughts and reasoning of this man, who does not value life in the same way I do, deceived me into thinking that because vaccines purport to be valuable life-savers, it was OK for others’ babies to die in order for mine to supposedly be more healthy. Even now, when I put it in black and white, it’s as shocking as it was when I first realized it.

Here are just some of the facts I uncovered in reading the full history in the peer-reviewed literature:

1. Vaccines were cultured exclusively on animal tissue prior to the 1960’s (animals such as the rhesus monkey).
2. Culturing vaccines on animal cells was useful but had unintended consequences. A well-documented example is the discovery of vaccines contaminated with the SV40 virus from rhesus monkey cells used in its production.
3. In the early 1960’s, Dr. Leonard Hayflick was the first researcher who set out to create a “fetal cell line” for use in culturing vaccines instead of using animal tissue.
4. A fetal cell line is derived from live cells taken from an aborted baby. The live cells are modified so they can replicate indefinitely.
5. In 1962, Dr. Hayflick developed the first fetal cell line called WI-38 (Wistar Institute, 38th fetal sample) from the lung tissue of an aborted 3 month gestation baby girl.
6. The data in his 1961 and 1965 papers show at least 23 aborted babies used in the research around the creation of WI-38. The number is likely higher, given that some of the cell strains he researched were not documented in his published papers.
7. Fetal cell line WI-38 is currently being used in the
   • MMRII (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)
   • ProQuad (Measles, Mumps, Rubella + Chicken Pox)
   • Varivax (Chicken Pox)
   • Adenovirus vaccines (Adenovirus is used for the military).
8. Next, in 1964 Dr. Stanley Plotkin isolated a rubella virus strain, RA 27/3 (Rubella Abortus, 27th fetus, 3rd tissue culture explant), that was later used in Merck’s rubella vaccine.
9. RA 27/3 was combined with WI-38 to create the rubella vaccine we use today.
10. It is well established that almost 80 aborted babies were used in the research leading to the development of RA 27/3. Dr. Plotkin’s 1969 article cites 76 of those abortions.
11. Dr. Plotkin’s value of life is revealed through his actions. He tested his rubella vaccine on orphans as young as 14 months old and “seronegative mentally retarded children”. In a letter to the editor, he defended his colleagues’ unethical experimental research on those with disabilities at Willowbrook Hospital. He stated that “performing initial studies on children and adults who are human in form but not in social potential… nonfunctioning persons” is acceptable, even preferred. He went on to state, “Morality must be defined by circumstances and facts.”
12. In 1966, researchers at the Medical Research Council in the UK developed the fetal cell line MRC-5, from a 3 1/2 month gestation baby boy who was aborted for psychiatric reasons from a physically healthy 27 year old mother.
13. MRC-5 is used in numerous vaccines today, including:
    • ProQuad (Measles, Mumps, Rubella + Chicken Pox)
    • Quadracel (DTaP-IPV) *see update in footnote
    • Pentacel (DTaP-IPV/Hib) *see update in footnote
    • Twinrix (Hep A/Hep B)
    • Vaqta (Hep A)
    • Havrix (Hep A)
    • Imovax (Rabies)
    • Varivax (Chicken Pox)
    • Zostavax (Shingles)
14. After their initial creation, each fetal cell line is reproduced many times over. Though they theoretically reproduce indefinitely, they have a finite lifespan of use, as they become more oncogenic (tumor causing/cancerous) with each reproduction.
15. Due to the finite nature of the use of the current fetal cell lines, researchers have (since the 1960’s) continued to this day using aborted babies in their work toward creating new fetal cell lines.
16. Here’s a list of just a few fetal cell lines created in the years since WI-38, RA 27/3, and MRC-5 (with links to where some of these aborted fetal cells can actually be purchased): WI-44, MRC-7, MRC-9, HEK 293, PER.C6, IMR-90, IMR-91, TIG-1, Walvax-2.
17. The most recent fetal cell line, Walvax-2, was developed by Chinese researchers in 2015 using a 3 month gestation baby girl.
18. Walvax-2 researchers matter-of-factly describe intentionally aborting 9 babies using the “water bag method” of abortion. I had not heard of that method, so I researched it and discovered it’s illegal in the United States. As little value as our country places on life, this practice is so inhumane it is still banned in America. In layman’s terms, the mother’s uterus is filled with saline water so the baby can essentially be floated out of her uterus alive and in-tact. The baby is then given straight to researchers who quickly dissect them alive, because a viable fetal cell line requires live cells. In the researcher’s own words, the “tissues from the freshly aborted fetuses were immediately sent to the laboratory for the preparation of the cells.”
19. These aborted babies were used for research in 2015, not 60 years ago. It is a current and ongoing practice.
20. Walvax-2 was specifically developed as a replacement for the aging MRC-5 cell line. It was tested with rabies, hepatitis, and Varicella viruses, and was found to be “equal or superior to MRC-5 cells for cultivating these viruses”.

Excerpt from Dr. Hayflick’s 1961 paper showing aborted babies & corresponding cell strains

Dissecting aborted babies (many presumed to be alive at the time) for vaccine research has been a consistent and ongoing practice for the past 60 years. As I let that fact sink in, I wondered how I did not know. 

I had allowed minimal information to inform a most delicate decision for my children. I submitted without thinking critically to headlines and news articles. In the end, I allowed the thoughts of an atheist researcher with different moral, ethical and spiritual views than me to determine what I thought about such an important subject.

How does this impact the heart of our living God? As the creator and sustainer of life, I think His heart is deeply grieved over this practice.

This information created a crisis in my heart that I had to really sit with. I grieved over my contribution (passively due to my lack of knowledge, but contribution nonetheless) to the deaths of those babies and the ones being killed even now for research. As a follower of Jesus, and as one who takes a deeply pro-life stand, I had to re-think these vaccines and the role I played in supporting such a grievous industry.

Though this information is painful to consider, I hope you take some time to ponder it.

*1.12.21 Update: Since the onset of COVID-19, there are now many COVID-19 vaccines using aborted fetal cell lines either in the production of the vaccine itself or in the research, development, or testing. These include the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines already in use under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (EAU) AND vaccines still in development. Click here to learn more. On the other hand, VFT is happy to report that Pentacel and Quadracel have changed their formulations and are no longer made with aborted fetal cell line MRC-5.