Federal lawsuit over vaccines is dropped
Parents who took legal action against the state’s new vaccination law have bowed out. Another suit is still pending.
Parents who were suing New York in federal court over the state’s new school vaccination rule have dropped their lawsuit, court records show.
The case was voluntarily dismissed on Thursday, three days after U.S. District Judge Allyne Ross denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction.
Another lawsuit challenging the law — which ended religious exemptions to the state’s school immunization requirements — remains underway in state court.
In the federal case, six parents of children with disabilities argued that the law violated their children’s rights to special education services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). They said the repeal of the religious exemption would disrupt their work schedules by requiring them to home-school their children.
Ross disagreed, arguing that it was the parent’s decision not to get their children vaccinated in accordance with the new law that would force their children to be home-schooled. The new law applies to public, private and parochial schools, as well as day care centers and summer camps.
“Plaintiffs do not allege that their children are unable to receive vaccinations as a result of their disabilities,” Ross wrote. “Indeed, if they did, they would likely qualify for medical exemptions ... instead, plaintiffs have made the affirmative choice not to vaccinate their children for non-medical reasons, thus opting out of public, private and parochial schools in New York state.”
Ross said schools have long held the right to base enrollment on compliance with vaccination requirements, and that if the court were to accept the argument that a “generally applicable” vaccination rule impermissibly conflicts with IDEA, a “host of neutral school policies” would be subject to invalidation.
Kimberly Mack Rosenberg, a New York City attorney representing the parents, said she and her clients are disappointed that the court denied their motion to allow “these most severely disabled” children to go back to school.
She said there is a victory for parents who, prior to the case being filing in federal court, were allegedly told that schools did not have to provide special education services to unvaccinated, home-schooled children with disabilities. She said the state “changed course” after the lawsuit was filed and asserted that such services were indeed available and required under the IDEA.
“The state’s refusal to provide services under the IDEA to home-school children would have left many families with absolutely no services and supports for their children with disabilities,” she said.
The state Education Department and Department of Health issued guidance last week to parents regarding the new vaccine requirement, with information about obtaining services for home-schooled students.
Services available to homeschooled children could include tutoring, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy and counseling, among others.
The case currently underway in state court will likely be decided by the start of the new school year. Oral arguments in the case drew more than 1,000 vaccine opponents to Albany earlier this month.