Challenge to New York Revoking Religious Exemptions for School Vaccinations Reaches Supreme Court

Challenge to New York Revoking Religious Exemptions for School Vaccinations Reaches Supreme Court
A nurse administers a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to a girl at a clinic in Los Angeles on Jan. 19, 2022. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
Matthew Vadum
Updated:

Parents of schoolchildren in New York state have filed a challenge with the Supreme Court contesting the state’s 2019 repeal of a law that exempted those with sincere religious objections from having to accept the vaccinations that children are normally required to receive in order to attend school.

The petition comes as courts across the country, including the Supreme Court, are considering the separate, more specific issue of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations and becoming increasingly receptive to arguments that governments are overstepping their lawful, constitutional authority in combating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.