Federal judge strikes down religious exemption to Arkansas vaccination law

AP, Aug. 14, 2002
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/226/nation/Federal_judge_strikes_down_rel:.shtml
By James Jefferson, Associated Press, 8/14/2002 11:23

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) A federal judge has struck down a religious exemption to a state statute requiring vaccinations before children can attend public school.

The exemption, granted only to members of ”recognized churches,” violates the establishment and free association clauses of the First Amendment, Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled Tuesday.

The decision left intact the state’s vaccination requirement, meaning students still are subject to the requirement with no religious exemption to immunization.

The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by Cynthia Boone, the mother of a student who refused to be vaccinated. The lawsuit said that although Ashley Boone is not a member of a recognized religious group with tenets against vaccinations, she personally believes that vaccinations ”are against the will of her God.”

Cabot High School officials had barred Ashley from classes during the 2001-2002 school year because she refused to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, a sexually transmitted disease.

Boone filed a federal lawsuit against the school district and the Arkansas Health Department, claiming the state selectively allows religious exemptions from vaccinations.
[...]

As a result of the ruling, she will have to be vaccinated in order to return for her senior year.
The effect of Arkansas’ religious exemption, Wright said in Tuesday’s ruling, was to discriminate against individuals with sincerely held individual religious beliefs.

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