by Jayla Ward • 1 minute
Great news! The U.S. Supreme Court ruled once again in favor of parents’ rights.
The Justices recently reversed a terrible decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed the State of New York to force Amish parents to vaccinate their children. When the families asked for religious exemptions, they were denied and faced catastrophic penalties from the state, directly violating their religious freedom and parental rights.
The Supreme Court instructed the appeals court to reconsider this case in light of its decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor earlier this year. In Mahmoud, the Court held that as a parent, you have the legal right to opt your children out of lessons in public schools that substantially interfere with your religious beliefs.
“The Amish community in New York wants to be left alone to live out their faith just like they have for 200 years,” said Kelly Shackelford, President, CEO and Chief Counsel at First Liberty. “The Amish take their faith very seriously and are simply asking the state of New York to respect their sincerely held beliefs.”
Watch below to hear more from Kelly on this victory:
For religious reasons, the Amish educate their children in private schools and have done so for hundreds of years without vaccinations.
And for over 50 years, New York accommodated their religious belief by granting religious exemptions from the State’s school vaccination requirements. But in 2019, the State repealed its religious exemption for vaccine mandates for school children. In 2022, the state imposed catastrophic penalties on the Amish community in its attempt to force them to comply.
“New York’s policy makers hold such contempt for people of faith that they changed their vaccine law to harass and threaten religious communities that simply want to live out their faith amongst themselves,” said Aaron Siri of Siri & Glimstad. “This wrong must be corrected.”
The Supreme Court’s decision sends a clear message to government that it can no longer force parents to comply with policies that substantially interfere with their ability to raise their children according to their religious beliefs.
This case isn’t over. It has been sent back to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the judges to reconsider the issue under the Mahmoud decision.
Please be in prayer for this Amish community, that the State of New York will follow the Supreme Court’s direction by allowing them to resume living out their faith—just like they’ve done for nearly 200 years.
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