Areligious exemption is a legal privilege that exempts members of a certain religion from a law, regulation, or requirement. Religious exemptions are often justified as a protection ofreligious freedom, and proponents of religious exemptions argue that complying with a law against one's faith is a greater harm than complying against a law that one otherwise disagrees with due to a fear ofdivine judgment.[1] Opponents of religious exemptions argue that they mandate unequal treatment and undermine therule of law.[2]
Many religionsincorporate drug use into their practices or consider certain illegal drugs to be sacred. In areas where these drugs are illegal, religious groups may petition for a religious exemption. The use ofcannabis is traditional inRastafari, and the use ofpeyote is traditional for someNative American tribes.[3][4] Laws governing alcohol may sometimes grant exceptions for practices such asEucharist.[citation needed]
Religious opposition to medical procedures has prompted debate on religious exemptions in medicine. Many places allow forreligious exemptions from vaccination.[5]Jehovah's Witnesses have challengedchild neglect laws that obligate the parent to provide medical assistance to their children.[6]
Some religions have requirements on how adherents maydress or groom. Many governments require companies and organizations to provide exceptions for religious apparel that would typically violate adress code. In many other places, certain religious articles of clothing are rendered illegal by laws governing public attire.[citation needed]Sikhism requires that adherents carry akirpan, which often requires a religious exemption to laws regarding the carrying of weapons.[7]
Churches,marriage officiants, and government employees that opposesame-sex marriage may seek religious exemptions from involvement in such marriages.[8]
Islam andJudaism both have specific traditions regarding the slaughter of animals. Some governments have madeexemptions to theiranimal cruelty laws to permit these traditions.[9]
Section 116 of theConstitution of Australia guarantees that the federal government shall not prohibit the free exercise of religion. Religious organizations are exempt from theSex Discrimination Act 1984 and are legally permitted to discriminate based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, relationship status, and pregnancy.[10] A religious exemption in 1998 allowed members of theChurch of Christ, Scientist to refuse child vaccination without losing welfare benefits, but the exemption was ended in 2015.[11]
TheCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms establishes a right to "freedom of conscience and religion". In 1985, theSupreme Court of Canada ruled that a business could not be compelled to close on Sunday for religious reasons inR v Big M Drug Mart Ltd. In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled thatHasidic Jews had the right to observeSukkot on a condominium balcony against the wishes of the property owner.[12]
Under Article 9 of theHuman Rights Act 1998, citizens of the United Kingdom are guaranteed the right to hold religious beliefs. The government reserves the power to legally restrict the expression of religious beliefs in the name of public safety, public order, health and morals, and the rights of others.[13]
TheHouse of Lords has ruled that dress codes banning religious accessories are undue but that a dress code banning a full bodyjilbāb is within reason. TheEnglish Court of Appeal has ruled in several cases that laws promoting equal rights outweigh the right to discriminate due to religious belief.[14]
In the United States, theFirst Amendment guarantees that Congress will make no law "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion, and this clause is used as justification for the legality of religious exemptions in the United States.[1] The earliest court case litigating religious exemptions was the New York casePeople v. Phillips in 1813, ruling that aCatholic priest could not be compelled to testify on aconfession in violation of his duty as a priest. In 1878, theSupreme Court of the United States ruled that the government could banpolygamy without a religious exemption inReynolds v. United States. In 1943, the Supreme Court did grant a religious exemption to an ordinance against door-to-door solicitation inMurdock v. Pennsylvania. In 1972, the Supreme Court established the "Sherbert test" inSherbert v. Verner, establishing a standard ofstrict scrutiny on religious exemptions. The Supreme Court moved away from religious exemptions inEmployment Division v. Smith in 1990.[15]
In the 1990s, Congress passed theReligious Freedom Restoration Act and theAmerican Indian Religious Freedom Act to write religious exemptions into law. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act authorized the government to enforce a law against religious practice only if it "furthers a compelling governmental interest" and it is the "least restrictive means" to pursue this interest.[16] The American Indian Religious Freedom Act granted a religious exemption for the use of peyote for religious purposes by Native American tribes.[4] Many states have since passedtheir own versions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to extend its coverage to state law.
In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of religious exemptions for private businesses inBurwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. Legal scholars have considered a wide variety of implications that may result from this decision, many of which have yet to be tested in court.[17]
A substantial area of religious exemptions in the United States are those that allow individuals to avoidvaccination mandates. For childhood vaccination mandates, most U.S. states provide some kind of religious exemption, with standards for receiving such an exemption varying from a minimal statement in some states to a more searching examination of the sincerity of the beliefs claimed in others.[18]
As of 2025, 45 states and theDistrict of Columbia grant exemptions for people who have religious objections to immunizations.[19] The five states that do not recognize a religious objection are California (California Senate Bill 277),Connecticut,Maine (2020 Maine Question 1), New York, and West Virginia.[19][20][21] Until 2015, only Mississippi and West Virginia did not permit religious exemptions.[22] However, the2014 Disneyland measles outbreak and2019 measles outbreak prompted lawmakers to remove religious and philosophical exemptions in some states.[19] In 2023,Mississippi re-instated religious exemptions for childhood vaccine mandates.[23] In January 2025, West Virginia governorPatrick Morrisey issued an executive order allowing religious exemptions in the state, though the order has been ignored by the state's Board of Education and has not been enforced or codified into law.[24][25]
