Washington, D.C., can no longer enforce a law that allows minors to get vaccinated without parental consent, according to a decision issued by a federal judge Friday.
The ruling implements a temporary pause while two separate lawsuits filed by parents in July arguing the district violated their religious liberty and subverted their rights to make decisions about their children’s health continue to proceed through the courts. The debate reflects a nationwide debate on mandating vaccinations for schoolchildren and whether minors can independently consent to get vaccinated.
“States and the District are free to encourage individuals — including children — to get vaccines,” Judge Trevor McFadden wrote in his ruling. “But they cannot transgress on the [National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act] Congress created. And they cannot trample on the Constitution.”
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The law in question, the Minor Consent to Vaccinations Amendments Act, permits children as young as 11 to receive an FDA-approved vaccine if their doctor determines they are able to give informed consent. That law was passed in 2020.
By July 2021, two separate lawsuits with similar complaints were levied against the district. In one complaint, a group of parents with children enrolled in city public or charter schools argued Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser could not enforce the law because it “subverts the right and duty of parents to make informed decisions about whether their children should receive vaccinations.”
Another lawsuit was filed by a Maryland father who said his daughter crossed state lines to enter Washington to get vaccinated without his knowledge. He had previously objected to his child’s vaccination due to his religious beliefs but said his daughter “frequently” brought up her desire to receive one — despite having a severe allergic reaction to a vaccine when she was 5.
“He alleged that she wanted vaccines for her dance company performances, her summer job, and to attend the college of her choice,” the opinion reads. “The harm is imminent because [his daughter] could try to get a vaccine at any time.”
McFadden granted both lawsuits a preliminary injunction Friday, dismissing the city’s arguments and noting the MCA targets religion by treating religious parents differently than those who are secular.
For example, part of the law regarding record-keeping only applies to children whose parents filed a religious exemption. If a child opts to get vaccinated, the law requires the provider to send the records to his or her school, where they must be kept confidential. However, the school may share the information with the district health department or the school health center — but the records are kept from parents.
“The MCA burdens religious practice by withholding from religious parents information available to secular parents who file a medical exemption for their children,” the ruling read. “Thus, the law is not generally applicable.”
Although the cases have not yet been decided, McFadden said the district was barred from enforcing the law in the meantime because he believed the parents could prove the district infringed on their free exercise of religion.
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“The Court holds that all the parents have standing for their preemption claims and have shown a likelihood of success on the merits for those claims,” he wrote in his ruling.
Forty-two states currently require parental consent and knowledge for their children to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. However, some health organizations have advocated that minors receive the COVID-19 vaccine sans parental permission, noting children should not have to refuse “potentially life-saving vaccinations” because of their parents’ beliefs.
