‘Gloves are finally off’: Pediatricians urge no religious exemptions to mandated shots

It is science that many, many products used to vaccinate children against the threats of various diseases use cell lines obtained from abortions to develop or test those products.

And some do a great deal of good while others have left behind serious injuries.

Church organizations and faith groups long have delivered advice to their faithful on how to address the conflict between a legitimate opposition to abortion – the unneeded deaths of the unborn – and protecting against infection.

All those groups now, apparently, can halt their discussions. It is the American Association of Pediatrics that has announced its own religious beliefs and its plans to seek to enforce those against anyone believing differently.

Citing only a single writing that argues for doctors to push parents to overlook their own beliefs, even lobby and “inform” religious leaders, the organization has ruled that, “Among the major world religious traditions, none include scriptural or doctrinal guidelines that preclude adherents from being vaccinated.”

The stunning dictate comes in the organization’s new statement in which it states now, “The AAP advocates for the elimination of nonmedical exemptions from immunizations as contrary to optimal individual and public health.”

BREAKING: The American Academy of Pediatrics has just released a policy statement advocating for the ELIMINATION of all non-medical exemptions from immunizations as a condition of school attendance.

In an act of desperation, it appears AAP is pulling out all the stops to… pic.twitter.com/ps4Z1vUKXn

— Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) July 28, 2025

Gloves are finally off. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the official voice of the pediatrics cartel, finally issued a statement calling for the repeal of all religious, conscience, philosophical, moral or non-medical exemptions from vaccine mandates to attend school.… pic.twitter.com/zTH3bCnBff

— Autism Action Network (@AutismActionNet) July 28, 2025

The American Academy of Pediatrics wants to take away your parental rights.

They receive MILLIONS of dollars from HHS. It’s time that changed. Defund AAP. They are not American first. pic.twitter.com/BkMYOQmnk6

— Anna Matson (@AnnaRMatson) July 29, 2025

That announcement confirms that most jurisdictions allow medical exemptions to the dozens of shots the pediatricians want to deliver to children, but rules for nonmedical exemptions vary.

Their conclusion is that there should be none of those, that parents will have the choice either to subject their children to the doctors’ lists of shots, or their children will not be allowed in places like daycare and school.

The statement claims that, “The leaders of some religious groups have highlighted that vaccination can be one important way to protect oneself and one’s neighbors and have thus suggested that there is a moral or religious obligation to seek vaccination.”

“State legislatures are rightly reticent to enact public policies that are perceived to interfere with the exercise of religion. However, in practice, nonmedical exceptions based on religious belief can substantially limit the public health value of vaccine requirements for school attendance,” the statement said. “There is no practicable way for schools or other involved community partners to distinguish fairly among religious or other nonmedical claims. State-level policies that differentiate among these types of claims serve only to introduce opportunities for uneven application, which in turn leads inevitably to disparities in immunization coverage and schools that are less safe.”

A report at Liberty Daily said the statement came out as an “update” to the AAP’s policies.

“We recommend that vaccination is required for participation in certain public activities, such as school and daycare, and if you choose not to vaccinate, you’re essentially choosing to exclude yourself from those settings,” lead author Jesse Hackell said in the report.

“We recognize that excluding a child from public education does have problems, and yet, we reach the conclusion that, on balance, assuring the safety of the school and daycare environment outweighs that risk because there are other educational opportunities available.”

All states require proof of immunizations now, and all grant medical exemptions. Religious exemptions, which the AAP wants destroyed, are available in 45 of the states.

Kim Mack Rosenberg, general counsel for Children’s Health Defense, told The Defender that religious freedom is a “hot-button” issue nationwide, according to the Liberty Daily.

“The AAP’s statement calling for an end to religious exemptions to immunization ignores constitutionally protected rights regarding religious freedom and potentially is in violation of other laws as well. AAP blatantly suggests that schools discriminate against families with faith-based reasons to not take some or all vaccines.

“To claim otherwise is to play word games — just as AAP suggests that families are not forced to take vaccines that conflict with their religious beliefs but instead that families simply must choose, in those instances, between attending school and staying true to their religious values,” she explained.

The Liberty Daily noted the concern from Dr. Michelle Perro, author of “What’s Making Our Children Sick?: How Industrial Food Is Causing an Epidemic of Chronic Illness, and What Parents (and Doctors) Can Do About It.”

“As a pediatrician committed to informed consent and patient rights based on non-biased science, I strongly support the continued access to medical, religious and philosophical vaccine exemptions,” she explained, noting many vaccines use cell lines from aborted fetal tissue, raising moral and ethical issues for those who don’t promote abortion.

“In addition, vaccines contain adjuvants and excipients such as aluminum salts, polysorbate 80 and formaldehyde that create neurotoxicity and immune dysregulation in some children. Compounding these issues is the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program [VICP], which grants vaccine manufacturers legal immunity, leaving families with no recourse when vaccine injuries occur,” she noted.

That liability exemption soon may end, however.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week criticized the VICP and vowed to fix it.

“I will not allow the VICP to continue to ignore its mandate and fail its mission of quickly and fairly compensating vaccine-injured individuals,” he explained.

However, civil rights lawyers have pointed out the Supreme Court has ruled that parents have a fundamental right to raise their children according to their religious beliefs, and any government violation of that demands the highest possible legal standard.

The report noted public support for religious exemptions was 20% in 2019, but nearly 40% this year.

The Liberty Daily explained, “In its statement, the AAP appeared to question the legitimacy of people’s religious beliefs. It said no major world religious traditions ‘include scriptural or doctrinal guidelines that preclude adherents from being vaccinated.’”

AAP is a lobbying group that gets some of its funding from corporations that make vaccines.

“The government Open Payments database shows that lead author Hackell has taken money from Merck, Pfizer, Seqirus and GSK since 2018. Author Dr. Lisa M. Kafer has received payments from the same companies, as well as others,” the report said.

One social media commenter pointed out the religious basis for the AAP ruling: “In the name of ‘science,’ they push a monotheism of medicine – one shot schedule, no dissent, no nuance.”