Florida Court Defends Church Autonomy in Immunization Case
The State of Florida has provided a religious exemption for parents who, for religious reasons, object to their children receiving immunizations. One parent invoked his exemption but did so at a private religious school. Learn how a state appellate court decided by listening to Firstliberty.org/Briefing.
Thank you for joining us for the First Liberty Briefing, an exclusive podcast where host Jeremy Dys—also First Liberty Senior Counsel—provides an insider’s look at the stories, cases, people and laws that have made America the world’s leader in protecting religious liberty.
The topic of immunizations can be controversial to many. Some even have a religious objection to having their children immunized as a requirement to attend public schools. Those objections often fall on deaf ears, but some states have provided for a religious exemption for parents who, for religious reasons, object to their children receiving the needle.
Florida falls into that category.
So, naturally, when Patrick Flynn informed his Florida school that he was invoking that exemption, he was surprised to hear the school refuse to follow the law. So, he filed a lawsuit.
Now, there’s an important fact that I haven’t told you yet: the school is a private, Catholic school. It’s not a public school.
As such, it is itself protected by the First Amendment to make its own policies in keeping with their faith.
A unanimous state appellate court sided with the Catholic Diocese, citing the doctrine of church autonomy. Siding with Flynn would “further his own religious views at the expense of the Diocese’s on the topic of immunizations,” wrote the court. “We are convinced that a secular court should not be making the judgment as to which side’s religious view of immunization is to be respected.”
In other words, while Flynn has a right to the protection of his religious beliefs, he may not use the state’s judicial arm to compel a private, religious institution to depart from its religious beliefs.
To learn how First Liberty is protecting Religious Liberty for all Americans, visit FirstLiberty.org.
First Liberty Institute is the largest organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to protecting religious freedom for all Americans. Find out more here.
(This podcast is by First Liberty Briefing. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central, and audio is streamed directly from their servers.)