Vaccine mandates and medical autonomy in California

OPINION:

Passionately debated for over a century, compulsory vaccination was first addressed by the Supreme Court when Henning Jacobson challenged the state of Massachusetts after a $5 fine was imposed on him for refusing to receive a smallpox vaccination as required under local law.

Fast-forward 118 years and the topic is still hotly debated, with higher stakes for noncompliance with vaccine mandates. Consequences range from prohibition from classroom-based education, loss of employment, or “general” vs. “honorable” discharge for members of our armed forces.

Earlier this year, our nonprofit law firm, Advocates for Faith and Freedom, launched a federal lawsuit against California for restricting religious exemptions to school-mandated vaccines in violation of parents’ First Amendment rights.

Widely viewed as the nation’s strictest state for vaccine mandates, California led the charge for the slash and burn of parental and physician oversight of children’s health nationwide. A steady stream of restrictive bills beginning in 2012 targeted exemptions to vaccine requirements for school-age children, reducing the role of a physician in their patients’ care.

Gov. Jerry Brown approved AB 2109, which required physician-approved medical exemptions to be filed with the state while still allowing personal belief and religious exemptions.

In 2015, Mr. Brown approved SB 277, removing personal belief and religious exemptions he sanctioned just three years before, overriding the sole discretion of a child’s physician to grant medical exemptions by instead allowing only those deemed appropriate by the state Department of Public Health.

COVID-19 arrived, and with it came a new wave of vaccine mandates, which divided a nation from top brass down to the kitchen table. Americans who resisted adult vaccine mandates suffered the consequences, including loss of ability to work or serve in our armed forces.

Once-protected private medical history became public/employer knowledge. In perhaps the greatest quantifiable example, thousands of service members were discharged from their respective branches for refusal to comply, launching members of Congress into action by addressing the issue in the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

Medical autonomy is one of the most valuable rights Americans have. That is why a group of parents came to us to file suit. No longer are they accepting the notion that the government is the be-all and end-all for their children’s medical decisions.

California SB 277 forced parents and students to decide between medical autonomy and high-quality education. These are not mutually exclusive, and the government should not mandate parents choose one over the other.

With the height of the pandemic in the rearview mirror and American families becoming more enraged with how the government imposed strict sanctions on us, the question is, is the pendulum swinging back? Will the importance of religious freedom be respected?

California will now have to answer for its discriminatory mandates in court.

• Mariah Gondeiro is vice president and legal counsel for Advocates for Faith and Freedom, a California-based nonprofit law firm.