U.S. Supreme Court will not hear challenge to New York vaccine law November 9, 2015 General Public Health, Vaccination, Immunization 0 The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to a New York state law that mandates all children be vaccinated before they can attend public school. This decision leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling that said the New York Law does not violate the constitution. That decision also upheld a trial court ruling that found that children with religious exemptions could still be prohibited from attending school if there is a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak. While this ruling only affects the states within the second circuit appellate court, which does not include California, it bodes well for the future of California's new school vaccination law (SB 277), which will take effect in January. California's law, unlike New York's, also eliminates religious or so-called "personal belief" exemptions from the school vaccination requirement, allowing exemptions only for medical reasons. Although all states require schoolchildren to be vaccinated, 18 states let parents opt out based on religious or philosophical beliefs, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures. For more information on California's school vaccination law, the California Medical Association (CMA) , along with the American Academy of Pediatrics, California, and the California Academy of Family Physicians, has developed an FAQ on SB 277. The FAQ is available free in CMA's online resource library. Comments are closed.
