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.”