by Jorge Gomez • 3 minutes
President Trump recently signed an executive order that will help protect religious Americans and organizations from government overreach, specifically on the issue of vaccine mandates.
“Some schools and universities have recently enforced or continue to enforce COVID-19 vaccine mandates, making access to education contingent upon students’ COVID-19 vaccination status,” the White House explained in a statement.
“These mandates pressure students into making COVID-19 vaccine decisions based on government coercion, rather than on their own informed choices,” the White House continued. “President Trump is committed to protecting personal freedoms and ensuring that Americans’ education isn’t conditioned on unnecessary government mandates.”
The order blocks federal funding to education agencies, K-12 schools and colleges and universities that mandate students to get COVID-19 vaccination to attend classes in person.
President Trump signs executive order prohibits federal funding for COVID-19 vaccine mandates in schools: “Okay, that solves that problem…yes, it’ll go through the Department of Education.” pic.twitter.com/xMishI1Pcd
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 14, 2025
The order also directs the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services to “issue guidelines” about schools’ “legal obligations with respect to parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations, and equal protection under law, as relevant to coercive COVID-19 school mandates.” The two departments are tasked with creating a plan within 90 days to “end coercive COVID-19 school mandates.
No matter what one’s view is on COVID vaccinations, government never has the right to force people to violate their faith. Mandatory vaccinations became a controversial and highly contested legal issue during the pandemic, particularly when the Biden administration announced it would mandate vaccines for federal workers, the military and health care personnel. On cue, many public colleges and schools also instituted their own mandates, causing significant strife for millions of Americans with religious convictions about vaccinations. Countless people of faith and religious families were mistreated, punished or deprived of their constitutional rights simply for seeking a religious exemption from mandatory vaccinations.
The effects of government overreach were especially notable in First Liberty’s U.S. Navy SEALs case, in which more than two dozen of America’s elite warriors—and a class of thousands of Navy service members—faced career-ending punishment for requesting religious accommodations to the military’s mandate.
After years of litigation, First Liberty secured a victory for our Navy SEAL clients that corrected the wrongs done to these brave heroes. Plus, the settlement impacted thousands of America’s military personnel and gave Navy service members more religious freedom protections than ever before.
President Trump also signed an executive order reinstating and reimbursing service members who were dismissed for declining to take the COVID-19 vaccine. “The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members,” the order stated.
“We are thrilled that those members of the military who were guided by their conscience and steadfast in their faith will not be penalized in their military careers and are grateful to President Trump for standing with our military and restoring these brave, faithful warriors,” said David Hacker, Vice President of Legal Services and Senior Counsel at First Liberty.
First Liberty won a federal appeal on behalf of Rachel Spivack, who was fired for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccination because her Orthodox Jewish faith prohibits her from receiving any vaccines.
Rachel was an assistant district attorney at the Philadelphia DA’s office. When her employer mandated the vaccine, Rachel requested a religious accommodation and waited for almost seven months for a response to her request. She was fired when her request was denied, although other employees were accommodated because of medical reasons and union membership.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told The Daily Signal he wholeheartedly supports the administration’s effort to grant parents more control over their children’s health care.
“Mandating the COVID injections for anyone, much less children, was an outrage and violated the principle of informed consent,” Johnson said. “Ending what never should have happened is obviously welcome.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who advocated to block mandated vaccines for millions of workers, likewise praised the move.
“I fully agree with President Trump’s decision to stop federal funds from going to schools that mandate the COVID-19 vaccine,” Lummis told The Daily Signal. “This…overreach is a blatant violation of Americans’ personal freedoms and has no place in schools supported by the American taxpayer.”
Religious Liberty Protection Kit: Know Your Rights on Vaccine Mandates
Americans with religious objections to vaccines have ample legal protection and recourse. The Constitution and federal law require government institutions to review religious accommodation requests equally and fairly. The First Amendment prohibits the government from refusing to provide religious exemptions when it provides medical exemptions.
For more information, First Liberty offers a free comprehensive resource with key facts and answers every person of faith needs to know on vaccines and mandates.
Our attorneys have included sample letters and language to use if you are requesting a religious exemption or accommodation. These letters are tailored for various faith backgrounds, as well as for students, teachers, public employees and military service members.
 |
|
|
