Supreme Court Rejects Religious Vaccine Exemption for Kindergartener in New York
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined an emergency appeal from a mother in New York seeking a religious exemption for her son from state vaccination requirements for school entry. The decision, issued on September 8, allows New York to maintain its stance that the kindergartener cannot attend school while his mother's lawsuit challenging the vaccination rules proceeds. Lower courts had previously ruled that the mother was unlikely to succeed in her request for a religious exemption and thus denied her son enrollment in an Eastchester, New York kindergarten. Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch indicated they would have granted the mother's request. The mother, a practicing Catholic, argues that additional vaccine doses for polio, chickenpox, and other diseases violate her faith, citing objections to 'biological material derived from unclean sources.' This ruling comes amidst a measles outbreak and a broader political debate surrounding childhood vaccinations, with data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Con...
