Sometimes you just have to wonder what planet some politicians are on. Five years on from the beginning of the COVID fiasco, and Hawaii’s Governor Josh Green MD, has had a bill (SB1437/HB1118) introduced into the Hawaii legislature that would repeal Hawaii’s religious exemption from vaccine mandates to attend school.

Only four states do not allow religious, personal belief, philosophical or conscience exemptions from vaccine mandates to attend school. They are deep blue California, New York, Maine and Connecticut. All four repealed existing exemptions in recent years, beginning with California in 2016.

There are many arguments to be made against this repressive, un-Constitutional, move by Gov. Green. The first is, in the post-COVID world, it is clear that the American public no longer believes that elected and appointed leaders can be trusted to make healthcare decisions free from political, ideological and financial considerations that have nothing to do with the well-being of ordinary families. 

The fact that President Biden gave Anthony Fauci a presumptive pardon going back to 2014 tells us all we need to know about the veracity of the COVID program and the institutions that developed and enforced it. 

Green offers no evidence that religious exemptions pose any kind of health threat. He should begin by explaining how the 46 states with religious exemption have worse health outcomes than the 4 states that do not have them.

At a time when we are striving for a more diverse, equitable and inclusive society and schools, this proposal by Gov. Green would move us in the exact opposite direction. 

Take Action

Send Messages, 

Please use the panel to the right to send emails to Gov. Green and your State Senator and Representative stating your opposition to SB1437 and HB1118

There will be a meeting of the House Health Committee on HB1118  tomorrow, Feb. 7, at 8:45 am (Hawaiian Time). 

The hearing can be watched online here:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvoLAX1ww3e63K8qQ5of0bw

Call the Governor 

Call Governor Green’s office and let them know that you support religious exemption, and oppose SB1437 and HB1118, 

(808) 586-0034

Call your State Senator and Representatives offices and let them know you support religious exemption and oppose SB1437 and HB1118. Their contact information should appear below. 

Or look up your Hawaii legislators here:

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/legislature/legislators.aspx?chamber=H

Prior to 2016, there were only two states without exemptions, Mississippi and West Virginia. But just a few weeks ago, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order creating a religious exemption in that state. And in 2023, a federal court ordered Mississippi to offer its citizens a religious exemption, citing the lack of one as a violation of the First amendment rights of the people of Mississippi. 

In his justification for the bill, Green claims that repealing the religious exemption is necessary to protect children who cannot get vaccines for medical reasons. Proponents of the religious exemption repeals in California in 2016 and New York in 2019 made the same argument. But it is completely bogus, since in both states, as soon as the religious exemption was repealed, new regulations and laws were passed to make getting a medical exemption impossible. Now, for example, in New York, medical exemptions are only available for children who have already been injured by a vaccine and can thoroughly document the event. New York now has half as many medical exemptions as in 2018, the year before the religious exemption was repealed. 

And nowhere have the proponents of ending religious exemptions offered any evidence that children with religious exemptions are a threat to children with medical exemptions in schools where teachers and other employees have no requirement for any vaccinations at all. 

See the bill here: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2025/Bills/HB1118_.pdf

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