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AVFCA is Amplifying Families' Experiences
of Religious Discrimination in Schools and Healthcare Settings
New Developments and Ongoing Efforts

A Voice for Choice Advocacy is working with Guiding the Impact [[link removed]] to ensure that the voices of families affected by vaccine mandates and religious discrimination are heard at the federal level.

The President’s Religious Liberty Commission will hold a major hearing on Monday, March 16, 2026 focused on religious liberty in healthcare and vaccine mandates, specifically school vaccine requirements in states without non-medical exemptions. The Commission is currently gathering information and testimony as it examines threats to religious freedom in education and healthcare. See Action Alert below to share your story.

AVFCA has been engaged with the Commission and has already submitted testimony so that the experiences of families facing coercive vaccine mandates are included in the public record, as well as our CA Religious Exemption Lawsuit. Our team will be in Washington D.C. next Monday representing California.

Through our broader work, AVFCA continues to advance religious liberty through multiple avenues:

* Litigation challenging the elimination of religious exemptions for vaccines in California schools and daycares.
* Nearly a decade of legislative advocacy in California to restore religious exemptions and ensure these rights remain part of the policy conversation.
* Coalition building through the Religious Rights Coalition, bringing together religious leaders, organizations, and families who support protecting the religious and conscientious rights of individuals in healthcare decisions.
* Federal engagement supporting efforts such as the GRACE Act and other policies designed to ensure that students are not denied education because of sincerely held religious beliefs.
* Direct help for individuals through AVFCA’s Religious Exemption Writing Workshop, which has helped thousands of employees and students successfully navigate religious exemption requests.

The upcoming Religious Liberty Commission hearing is an important opportunity to ensure that policymakers understand the real-world consequences families are facing. Among the issues that families and organizations are urging the Commission to examine are:

* Whether federal protections are needed to ensure that schools receiving federal funding respect religious exemptions to vaccine mandates.
* Whether federal investigation and enforcement are needed when states eliminate or restrict religious exemptions in ways that violate the Free Exercise Clause.
* Whether federally funded healthcare providers should be prohibited from denying non-emergency care based on religious objections to vaccination.

Momentum is also building around a potential Executive Order directing that federal funds be withheld from any school district that punishes or denies religious exemptions to vaccination requirements. Modeled after the February 2025 approach used to address COVID mandates, this action could provide immediate protection for families across the country and help stop coercive policies that force parents to choose between their faith and their children’s education.

ACTION ALERT: The President’s Religious Liberty Commission is currently accepting written comments for its upcoming March 16 hearing on healthcare-related religious liberty issues, including vaccine mandates in schools, colleges, and employment, as well as religious discrimination in medical settings.

The Commission is seeking input from individuals and families who have experienced the repeal of school religious exemptions, denial of religious exemptions from vaccine mandates in education or employment, or denial of medical care due to religious objections to vaccination. Written comments can be submitted directly to: [email protected] [[email protected]?subject=Public%20Comment%3A%20March%2016%20Religious%20Liberty%20Commission%20-%20My%20Story]

Your submission may describe the religious hostility or irreparable harm your family has experienced. Helpful information may include:

* Instances of discrimination involving school administrators, health departments, legislators, or healthcare providers related to religious objections to vaccination.
* The impact of losing a religious exemption for school attendance, including lost educational opportunities, social or emotional harm, forced relocation, or the need to homeschool.
* Situations where you or your child were denied medical care or dismissed from a medical practice due to religious objections to vaccination.

Providing specific details helps demonstrate the real impact these policies have on families.

This is where our stories get to breathe. The time to speak is now. Please submit your written comment as soon as possible.



AVFCA remains committed to ensuring Religious Exemptions in California schools, while also defending religious freedom wherever it is challenged. No other organization in California is doing this work at every level—litigation, legislation, coalition-building, and direct legal advocacy for individuals.



If you found this information helpful and appreciate the work A Voice for Choice Advocacy is doing, please support us by making a donation today.

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Together we can make change happen



C
Christina Hildebrand
President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
[email protected] [[email protected]]
www.AVoiceForChoiceAdvocacy.org [[link removed]]
www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org [www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org]
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