WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the state’s longstanding religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities.
The justices did not comment in leaving in place a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the contentious law. A lower court judge had earlier dismissed the lawsuit challenging the law, which drew protests at the state Capitol.
Connecticut law requires students to receive certain immunizations before enrolling in school, allowing some medical exemptions. Prior to 2021, students also could seek religious exemptions. Lawmakers ended the religious exemption over concerns that an uptick in exemption requests was coupled with a decline in vaccination rates in some schools.
Here’s my thing about religious exemption, and my parents used it for me, because they didn’t believe in it 30 years ago. Give me one religious text that actually says you shouldn’t vaccinate. Just one. You don’t have it? Bye bye.
Just to clear the air, the objection tends to be on the grounds that certain medicines/vaccines are tested on stem cells harvested from an aborted baby. While there are other objections, this is the most common one I have run into.
If these individuals are consistent in their objections (avoid tylonel, Advil, and any other meds tested in these stem cells) Then I believe we should respect their religious convictions. But, consistentcy is key here, you can’t pick and choose.
We either believe that people have the right to have different beliefs than others, or we don’t. We also can’t be inconsistent with that ideology. But we can absolutely challenge them when being inconsistent, i.e., if one religious symbol is allowed, any competing ones that someone desires to place must also be allowed.
Um, no.
Letting yourself and your family be potential carriers of disease because your invisible sky daddy says abortion bad - which in the Bible is not the case - is forcing your beliefs on others.
You don’t want to vaccinate your kids to help protect the community at large? Then don’t be surprised when society rejects your dumb selfish ass. Homeschool and wear masks out in public if you really believe.
That’s the funny thing is that they don’t have to. They just sign a form that affirms their strongly held conviction. No explanation necessary, because otherwise school admins would have the messy job of ruling on what is and isn’t legitimate belief. Just have to hope more states follow suit.