Supporting Documentation for Catholic Exemptions

You may copy and paste any of the below information to include with your state exemption forms. For a sample letter, click here.

Historical Background Regarding School Exemptions

While many parents have sought religious exemptions to vaccines derived from aborted fetal tissue, the response from those who attempt to deny this right has been that the Catholic Church says the vaccines are “morally acceptable”. In fact, in a June 2005 Statement from the Pontifical Academy for Life under the approval of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the right to abstain under proper conditions is clearly upheld. Furthermore, Msgr. Suaudeau issued a clarification upholding the parental right to abstain from vaccination.

In December 2007, the NJ Catholic Conference of Bishops reversed their previous policy of denying religious exemptions at all Catholic schools in the State. Out of 195 dioceses in the country, only 27 remain with such unlawful, stringent – and unwarranted policies.

Furthermore, the Catholic Church has always upheld the right to follow one’s properly formed Moral Conscience. It is considered a primordial right which cannot be interfered with, especially in religious matters. The following Church documents explain this right, which is fully supported by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican.

Introductory Statement

Whereas the supreme teaching authority of the Catholic Church, as illumined by Sacred Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, is defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, under the Magisterium of the Church and the Apostolic Authority of our Holy Father, the Pope, and,

Whereas the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Canon Law binds parents to be primarily responsible for the physical, moral and spiritual formation of their children, and

Whereas the Catechism of the Catholic Church holds abortion to be intrinsically evil, so much so that the consequences of such practice is grave enough to warrant Excommunication, and

Whereas the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican have all denounced both abortion and human fetal tissue research procured from abortion or deliberately destroyed human embryos, and

Whereas the Catechism of the Catholic Church defers to moral conscience as the guideline that states, “In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right”, therefore be it known that:

A Catholic, according to his good, moral conscience and under direct teaching of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church has the absolute right to refuse any medical products derived from aborted fetal tissue, including vaccinations, tissue transplants or future products derived from embryonic stem cell research or other areas that in themselves directly contradict the moral laws of the Church.

Be it further noted that the Catholic Church encourages the faithful to use alternative products where they are available, rather than those derived from deliberately destroyed human life and that the Catholic Church accepts such human life to begin at the moment of fertilization through natural death.

These documents include but are not limited to:

Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum 

Canon Law Regarding Parental Rights

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Abortion

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Moral Conscience 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Parental Duty

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Respect for the Dignity of Persons

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Respect for the Person and Scientific Research

The Declaration on Religious Freedom – Dignitas Humanae, Pope Paul VI, December 7, 1965

The Dignity of Moral Conscience

Donum Vitae, Part I , Conclusion

Excerpt from Respect for Human Embryos, National Conference of Catholic Bishops

Familiaris Consortio, 40 Pope John Paul II

St. John Henry Newman’s Reference to the Fourth Lateran Council on Moral Conscience

The Teaching of the Church Fathers on Abortion

The Teaching of Holy Scripture on the Sanctity of Life

The Teaching of Pope John Paul II – Excerpts from Evangelium Vitae, The Gospel of Life