Anti-vax Appeal Waits As Schools Set To Open In New York

With school about to start across New York, parents who don't want to vaccinate their children are on tenderhooks hoping a four-judge panel will grant their attorneys' request for a preliminary injunction stopping New York's law ending the religious exemption for vaccines.

An appeal was filed Wednesday, a request for an emergency stay was denied Thursday, and now the attorneys are hearing that some schools won't even give the kids the 14-day grace period the law calls for.

"Some parents from around the State have been contacting me and Elizabeth Brehm and reporting that their school districts are taking the position that the 14 days "attendance period" built into the repeal law ALREADY transpired, from June 14-28, and that unvaccinated children are now BARRED from school," Michael Sussman wrote on Facebook. "This contradicts what the State lawyers have been telling the Judges."

According to the new rules, all children who do not have their required immunizations must have their first dose of vaccinations within 14 days from the first day of school. Parents and guardians of these children must show that they have made appointments for all required follow-up doses within 30 days of the start of school.

Affected are more than 26,000 children excluded from New York State’s public and private schools as well as thousands more excluded from daycare and special education services prior to kindergarten, Sussman said. He pointed out in the brief that New York could have followed California's example. That state is implementing its repeal of philosophical exemptions to vaccinations over a period of years.

Sussman's lawsuit argues that the repeal of the religious exemption violates several constitutional rights.

The religious exemption was repealed in response to the current measles outbreak—the largest in New York State since 1991 and the nation's most significant measles outbreak in more than 25 years. A full 90 percent of measles cases in the United States (1,215 so far this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control) are in New York, most in Brooklyn, Queens and Rockland County.

"I certainly urge all parents to use this period for the benefit of their children, understanding that we will go to every court, including the NY State Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court if need be seeking a stay," Sussman said. "If you are facing this issue, PLEASE report it to Ms. Brehm or me."

SEE:

• New York Ends Religious Exemptions For Measles
• Judges Uphold NY Vaccination Law Before School Starts