said asking employees to disclose their vaccination status was a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The True Hope Ministry letter wrongly asserted that the vaccine contains “the DNA of a male aborted baby.” A Northern California Pentecostal church falsely claimed that the vaccines contain “animal parts.”
The records do not indicate whether the hospital worker or the history teacher ultimately received exemptions. Calvary Church Chino Hills declined to comment. Lee said employers in the Golden State, where the Fair Employment and Housing Act also applies, should “tread more lightly” and bring in legal counsel if they intend to seek that information.
Faith and science do not have to be an “either/or” question, said Drs. Tim Millea and Craig Treptow of the Catholic Medical Assn. “Our faith is a ‘both/and’ commitment that thrives on the beliefs of our faith in concert with logic and reason.” Mandates that don’t allow for the “least restrictive” path to accomplishing pandemic goals are not the answer, they said.
Those seeking an exemption need to explain how “sincerely held religious beliefs, practices or observances” preclude them from getting inoculated, said Sgt. Todd Hylton, a department spokesman. “If a person just said, ‘It’s a personal belief, I don’t believe in vaccines so I don’t want to do it,’ then it wouldn’t meet that qualification.”
sells classes and consulting packages on how to secure a religious exemption. Creator Peggy Hall, a vocal Orange County anti-mask advocate, posts free YouTube and Facebook Live videos about how to avoid workplace vaccine mandates.