Lauren Boebert Joins Growing Calls for Trump to Strengthen Religious Exemptions
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is the latest member of Congress urging President Donald Trump to “further strengthen” protections for religious exemptions from vaccine mandates.
Boebert warned that families across the country still face vaccine mandates that conflict with their religious beliefs.
In a March 19 letter, Boebert praised Trump’s earlier efforts to curb COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
She called his 2025 executive order barring federal funds for schools enforcing the mandates a “significant and commendable step toward restoring respect for individual liberty and constitutional protections.”
Boebert asked the administration to “take every available step” to protect further Americans’ religious freedoms, including “strengthening enforcement of existing policies, expanding safeguards for religious exemptions, and ensuring accountability for noncompliant institutions.”
Her letter follows a similar push earlier this month by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.). Steube called on Trump to “take all available steps, up to and including issuing an executive order, to ensure the appropriate protection of individuals’ civil liberties and religious freedom with respect to all vaccines.”
“While the Administration has taken important steps to address COVID-19 vaccine mandates, families across the country still face additional vaccine requirements that fail to respect sincerely held religious beliefs,” Steube said in a press release.
Boebert echoed that warning. She told The Defender:
“The fight isn’t over. Too many states and institutions still trample on sincerely held beliefs, forcing Americans to choose between their faith and their futures. My letter urges the administration to keep pushing forward to protect our First Amendment rights.”
‘No child in America’ should be denied an education due to religious beliefs
Health freedom advocate Cait Corrigan, a law student and former congressional candidate, said Boebert’s letter reflects a coordinated effort to elevate the issue in Washington.
Corrigan said she has met with federal officials more than 80 times since June 2025 to advocate for the restoration of religious exemptions for schoolchildren. She said she shared Steube’s letter with Boebert’s office and requested similar action.
“Within a week, Congresswoman Boebert sent a letter to President Trump,” Corrigan said. Corrigan worked with Children’s Health Defense (CHD), which helped “raise awareness of the advocacy efforts around this issue,” she said.
Corrigan called Boebert’s move “critical” in highlighting parental rights, religious liberty and medical freedom. It is “especially significant” that Boebert is pushing for action to guarantee “no child in America is denied an education because of their family’s religious beliefs,” she said.
‘People of the U.S. are now pushing back’
The renewed push comes as the Religious Liberty Commission, established by Trump in 2025, examines clashes between public policy and religious freedom.
The commission will hold its final meeting on April 13 and plans to deliver policy recommendations to the president in July.
At recent hearings, witnesses described the real-world impact of mandates. Hermione Susana, a New York City worker fired for being unvaccinated, said restrictions beginning in September 2021 barred unvaccinated people from restaurants, theaters and other venues “based on not having papers.” The unvaccinated were “demonized and ostracized for upholding constitutional religious freedom.”
Parents and professionals also described how vaccine mandates have harmed families. Nancy Costine said her daughters attended school in New York with approved exemptions until lawmakers repealed the policy in 2019.
“They said that our beliefs were utter garbage,” Costine said. “The free exercise of religion includes a parent’s right to direct a child’s religious upbringing.”
Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a psychiatrist who lost his job after challenging university vaccine mandates in California, said earlier policies punished people for their faith. However, “the people of the U.S. are now pushing back and reasserting their rights of conscience and freedom of religion in healthcare and other realms of public life,” he told commissioners.
Polling reflects that shift. Surveys show growing support for allowing parents to opt their children out of school vaccine requirements for medical and religious reasons. The polls also show continued backing for mandates that include exemptions.
‘Religious liberty … must be consistently defended wherever it is threatened’
In a letter submitted to the Religious Liberty Commission this month, CHD CEO Mary Holland warned that eliminating religious exemptions forces families into impossible choices.
“Across the country — and particularly in the four states that do not allow any form of religious accommodation — families are being forced to choose between adherence to their faith and their children’s access to education, extracurricular activities, and other public programs,” Holland wrote.
California, New York, Connecticut and Maine currently prohibit religious exemptions for school vaccines.
Other states, including West Virginia and Massachusetts, continue to debate or challenge them, while South Carolina lawmakers recently rejected a proposal to remove the existing religious exemption.
Advocates say federal action, along with legislation like the proposed GRACE Act, could establish nationwide protections and ease pressure on families forced to choose between faith and education.
Boebert framed her request as part of that broader effort. She wrote to Trump:
“Despite your efforts, many states and institutions persist in imposing vaccine requirements that fail to provide adequate accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs. …
“… Religious liberty is a foundational principle of our nation, and it must be consistently defended wherever it is threatened. Policies that disregard or diminish these protections risk undermining the very freedoms your Administration has worked to uphold.”