In Booth v. Bowser, (D DC, March 18, 2022), a D.C. federal district court granted a preliminary injunction on free exercise grounds against the Minor Consent for Vaccinations Act Amendment of 2020 which allows minors who are at least 11 years old to consent to vaccinations without parental approval. The court concluded that the Act burdens religious practice, explaining:
If a minor’s parent has filed a religious exemption for the child and the child elects to get a vaccine anyway, a healthcare provider must leave blank part 3 of the Certificate. Id. Part 3 is the child’s immunization record. This serves to obfuscate the child’s vaccination from his parents. But the MCA does not require providers to leave blank part 3 of the Certificate for students whose parents filed a medical exemption.
Washington Post reports on the decision.
