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A West Virginia mother filed a lawsuit this week seeking religious exemption from mandatory school vaccinations for her 4-year-old daughter, according to The Associated Press.
Miranda Guzman is suing the state and local boards of education and the county schools superintendent in the Circuit Court of Raleigh County, after the state school board announced it wouldn’t recognize the governor’s executive order allowing religious exemptions to school immunizations.
Guzman alleges her daughter is being denied her fundamental right to an education because of her mother’s religious beliefs. “School officials are essentially standing in the schoolhouse door defiantly interfering with controlling law and blocking [Guzman] from sending her child,” according to the filing.
Guzman’s exemption request stems from her faith-based objections to the use of fetal cells to develop vaccines, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s office said. Guzman had obtained an exemption for her daughter under the governor’s executive order, but the Raleigh County Board of Education later denied it.
Morrisey reaffirmed his commitment to religious liberty Tuesday, saying his vaccine executive order is permissible under the “Equal Protection for Religion Act.”
That law stipulates the government would not be able to “substantially burden” a person’s constitutional right to freedom of religion unless doing so is “essential to further a compelling governmental interest.”
The judge assigned to the Guzman case, Circuit Court Judge Todd Kirby, co-sponsored the 2023 bill creating the Equal Protection for Religion Act. On Wednesday, Kirby recused himself from the case, The Weirton Daily Times reported.
“Avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest or impropriety is essential to the maintenance of the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary,” Kirby wrote in his voluntary recusal order.
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Dr. Arvin Singh, West Virginia secretary of health, defended the push for religious freedom:
“West Virginia leads the nation in vaccination rates, and we can lead again — this time by proving that protecting public health and respecting parental rights are not mutually exclusive … With Governor Morrisey’s leadership, we’re restoring trust, transparency, and truth in how we protect our children.”
The West Virginia Board of Education said in a June 12 statement that its aim is to “do what is best” for its staff and students. “This includes taking the important steps of protecting the school community from the real risk of exposure to litigation that could result from not following vaccination laws,” according to the statement.
Two groups sued the West Virginia Department of Health over the governor’s order, alleging that the authority to make such decisions lies with the legislature, not the governor.
The West Virginia Department of Education said its vaccination laws “have proven to improve attendance rates for students and staff while ensuring children stay healthy, safe, and ready to learn.”
The state requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough before starting school. The state does not require COVID-19 vaccinations for children.
California, Maine, New York and Connecticut are the only other remaining states that don’t allow religious exemptions to school vaccine mandates.
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