Supreme Court Rejects Student Exemption from California’s School Vaccine Mandate
The U.S. Supreme Court on October 17 declined to intervene in a case challenging California’s mandatory vaccination policy for schoolchildren.
In an unsigned order without noted dissents, the Court rejected an emergency application filed in We The Patriots USA v. Ventura Unified School District. The decision means that California’s vaccination requirement remains in force while the underlying case proceeds through lower courts.
The nonprofit advocacy group We The Patriots USA, based in Idaho, filed the emergency appeal on behalf of a parent identified as Jane Doe. Her son had initially received an exemption based on personal beliefs, but the school district later revoked it, barring him from attending school since December 2024.
Doe argued that her family’s religious beliefs prohibit vaccination, claiming that some vaccines were developed using cell lines derived from aborted fetuses.
The group asserted that California’s refusal to accommodate such beliefs violated the family’s First Amendment rights, comparing it to the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which protected parents’ rights to opt children out of certain LGBTQ-related classroom materials.
California defended its policy, emphasizing that vaccination requirements safeguard public health and prevent outbreaks of serious diseases.
Lower courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, had previously denied requests to suspend enforcement of the law, which bars the admission of unvaccinated students unless they qualify for specific medical exemptions.
In its response, the school district argued that the plaintiffs sought “extraordinary remedies” and a broad exemption affecting undefined groups of parents and children. The Supreme Court’s refusal to act leaves those lower court rulings intact.
Following the decision, We The Patriots co-founder Brian Festa expressed disappointment but vowed to continue the legal fight, saying: “Forced vaccination in violation of one’s faith should not be the admission charge to a public school.”
Every child has the right to education and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. While parents have the right to raise their children according to their beliefs, the state also carries the responsibility to ensure that schools remain safe and preventable diseases do not endanger other children.
