A federal judge has blocked Washington, D.C., from enforcing a law that would have allowed minors to be vaccinated without the notification and consent of their parents.
Judge Trevor McFadden announced his decision on March 18 against the Minor Consent to Vaccinations Amendments Act (MCA), according to the Washington Post. If enforced, it would have allowed children as young as 11 to be able to receive any vaccination without the consent of their parents.
McFadden agreed with parents that said the act would have violated their right to religious freedom. In his decision, the judge said that the act specifically "targets religious parents," making it unconstitutional.
"A court may find a facially neutral law non-neutral in application if the law covertly targets religious beliefs," McFadden wrote in his decision. "Because the MCA 'refers to a religious practice' and thus is not facially neutral, the Court need not ask whether the law covertly targets religion."
The ruling makes it clear that, just as much as affected parents have the right to not vaccinate their children, those who do are equally as law-abiding.
"Vaccines are 'one of the greatest achievements' of public health in the 20th century," McFadden wrote, using the verbiage of another court ruling." States and the District are free to encourage individuals—including children—to get vaccines. But they cannot transgress on the [National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act] Program Congress created. And they cannot trample on the Constitution."
If it was considered legally binding, the MCA would have allowed minors "capable of meeting [an] informed consent standard" to receive any vaccination that meets the standards of the United States Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The vaccinations include, but are not limited to, the COVID-19 vaccines currently available.
A similar bill is being debated in California. Newsweek previously reported that this bill, Senate Bill 866, would allow vaccine providers to give doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to children 12 years of age or older without explicit permission from their parents or guardians. Currently, minors are able to receive an HPV or Hepatitis B vaccination without parental consent.
"Giving young people the autonomy to receive lifesaving vaccines, regardless of their parents' beliefs or work schedules, is essential for their physical and mental health," said California state Senator Scott Wiener, who co-authored the bill.
"Almost a million California teenagers are unvaccinated, and for a lot of those teens, it's because their parents either refuse to get them vaccinated or they have not yet gotten around to it."
Update 3/21/22, 3:32 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
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