We The Patriots USA and the CT Freedom Alliance have filed a lawsuit over the removal of the religious exemption for children getting vaccinated to go to school.

Gov. Ned Lamont signed the bill removing religious exemptions for school vaccines Wednesday.

The two groups then held a news conference in front of the state Supreme Court, saying they plan to sue.

Three parents are suing, including a Muslim family from Stamford and a Greek Orthodox family from Bethel. Each family has pre-school age children who won’t qualify for a religious exemption when they start kindergarten in September 2022, when the law takes effect.

In the lawsuit, the families claim some vaccines were developed using cells from aborted fetuses, which violates their religious beliefs. They also claim the new law “forces parents to renounce their religious beliefs and vaccinate their children or homeschool their children — something many parents cannot do — thus depriving them of any educational opportunities."

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong says the state is prepared to defend the new law. In a 2019 legal opinion Tong said, “The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed the authority of the states on this issue for more than 100 years.”