One federal judge has temporarily placed a block on a Washington D.C. law to delay it going into effect. The law would have made it legal for kids as young as 11 years of age to go and get their COVID-19 vaccination with or without parental consent.
The new ruling came down from Judge Trevor McFadden, and stated that the Minor Consent For Vaccinations Amendment Act of 2020 (MCA) “targets religious parents.”
“States and the District are free to encourage individuals — including children — to get vaccines,” stated McFadden as part of his ruling. “But they cannot transgress on the [National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act] Congress created. And they cannot trample on the Constitution.”
This ruling was in response to and address a pair of lawsuits filed in July.
“In one complaint, a group of parents with children enrolled in city public or charter schools argued Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser could not enforce the law because it subverts the right and duty of parents to make informed decisions about whether their children should receive vaccinations,” stated the Washington Examiner in a report.
“Another lawsuit was filed by a Maryland father who said his daughter crossed state lines to enter Washington to get vaccinated without his knowledge,” stated the report.
A grand total of 42 states currently have a requirement of parental consent in order for their kids to be dosed with the COVID-19 vaccine. Two states, in particular, South Carolina and North Carolina, allow students to receive their vaccinations sans parental consent as early as 16 years of age.
State law in Oregon allows for kids to be vaccinated without the consent of the parents once the kids hits 15 years of age, but Alabama however allowed it as early as 14 years old. Quite a few states also do not currently have specific laws directly speaking to COVID-19 vaccinations for kids without parental consent, as reported by researchers from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The District of Columbia MCA law stated that the earliest age in the country for a COVID-19 vaccination with no parental consent. The law has not yet officially taken effect and this new ruling will continue the trend to push back the MCA from moving forward unless yet another court ruling countermands this latest ruling.
This past month, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz put forth an amendment to block all federal funds from going to schools and child care centers that forced the installation of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on its students or small children.
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