Richard H. Hughes, IV, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was quoted in POLITICO’s Prescription Pulse Newsletter, in “Another Challenge to Vax-Mandate Carve-Outs,” by Lauren Gardner and David Lim.
Following is an excerpt:
Growing trend: The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York’s Eastern District, comes as CHD and other groups have sought to build momentum toward the restoration of religious exemption rights across the country.
While most states offer a religious or conscience exemption option, or both, for school-entry vaccine requirements, four — California, Connecticut, Maine and New York — stopped doing so within the last decade after waves of infectious disease outbreaks. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over New York district courts, upheld Connecticut’s law in 2023.
But last week, the Supreme Court ordered the appeals court to reconsider its March decision to uphold New York’s law in a case brought by Amish students and parents, who pointed to the Mahmoud opinion that parents can opt their kids out of some public school teachings on religious grounds.
Most major religions don’t advise against vaccination in their teachings, and some, like the Catholic Church, have explicitly endorsed immunizations.
“This is just one more effort to flood the courts and set precedent that undermines vaccine policy under the guise of religious freedom,” said Richard Hughes, an Epstein Becker Green lawyer who’s challenging some of Kennedy’s vaccine policy changes.
