In 1993, Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in response to the Supreme Court’s 1990 decision and in an effort to provide more protection for individuals under the First Amendment. However, it remains true that the government can pass neutral, generally applicable laws where it has very good reason for the law and where there really is not a better way of trying to accomplish the government’s objectives.

Mandatory vaccination laws are just that. On their face, they apply to all students, employees or customers. They are motivated by valid health and safety concerns, not religious animus, and they should be found to be constitutional.

The constitutional protection for the free exercise of religion enshrined in the First Amendment isn’t the only law to consider when talking about vaccine mandates and religious exemptions. When it comes to the employer-employee relationship, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act also kicks in to protect employees from discrimination on the basis of religion. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission specifically provided that as long as an employer complies with Title VII, federal disability laws and “other EEO considerations,” federal equal employment opportunity laws allow employers to require “all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19.”