Massachusetts Bill S.1618 Threatens Religious Freedom, Medical Privacy, and Parental Rights!

Yesterday, we alerted you about two bills—H.2554 and S.1557—that aim to eliminate religious exemptions to vaccination for school attendance. Today, we must sound the alarm on another deeply concerning bill.

S.1618 removes the current process for obtaining medical and religious exemptions for child care, K-12 schools, and higher education—and hands full control over to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).

If passed, this bill would:

Force parents to obtain a religious exemption from a healthcare provider, who then submits it to the DPH for approval.
Restrict medical exemptions to a narrow list of DPH-approved conditions.
Allow children to consent to vaccination and other medical and dental care without parental knowledge or consent.
Authorize the DPH to track and publish vaccination and exemption rates for every child care center, school, and higher education, potentially exposing and targeting communities with higher exemption rates.
Require yearly renewal of religious and medical exemptions, placing a continual burden on families.
Grant the state power to designate schools as “elevated risk programs” if they don’t meet arbitrary vaccine thresholds, and pressure or exclude unvaccinated students.

S.1618 is a sweeping and dangerous assault on religious liberty, informed consent, and the fundamental rights of parents to make medical decisions for their children.

TAKE ACTION:

Contact your Massachusetts State Senator TODAY and urge them to OPPOSE S.1618.

Find your legislators: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator

A sample script for emails or calls is below. Personalize it by adding your own sentences and changing the wording – personal letters are far more effective than form letters!

Sample script:
“Hi, my name is ____ and I am a constituent. I’m calling to strongly urge Senator _____ to OPPOSE S.1618.

This bill would eliminate the current medical and religious exemption process for vaccines and replace it with a system fully controlled by the Department of Public Health.

Religious freedom is protected by the First Amendment and the Massachusetts Constitution and does not require doctor or state approval.

S.1618 would also allow minors to consent to medical procedures, including vaccination, without their parents’ knowledge, stripping away fundamental parental rights and medical oversight.

Vaccination is a profoundly personal decision involving religious belief, medical history, and risk. The government should not interfere with families’ freedom to choose or coerce children behind their parents’ backs.

Please vote NO on S.1618 to protect freedom of religion, medical privacy, and parental authority.”

TALKING POINTS:

You oppose S.1618 because it creates unconstitutional barriers to both religious and medical exemptions.

Religious beliefs are personal and protected, not subject to approval by healthcare providers or the Department of Public Health.

Medical exemptions are narrowed and subject to state scrutiny, jeopardizing the doctor-patient relationship and putting honest physicians at risk of professional consequences.

Public publishing of exemption data could lead to school shaming and targeting of individuals or communities.

The bill allows minors to consent to vaccination without parental knowledge, which opens the door to medical coercion and removes critical protections.

Families will be required to renew exemptions annually, creating ongoing bureaucratic hurdles and stress.

Schools that don’t meet state vaccination quotas could be labeled “elevated risk,” triggering public pressure campaigns and possible student exclusion.