Dear PERK Members & Supporters,
We are overjoyed to congratulate Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), on the historic win in federal court, protecting the right to religious exemptions from all vaccines for all Mississippi schoolchildren. This is the beginning of a major shift in future policies regarding mandatory vaccination. Many good things to come.
PERK Team
April 17, 2023
Today, ICAN’s attorneys secured a historic and critical win with a ruling from the bench following an evidentiary hearing, where a federal court has ruled that the First Amendment requires that, by July 15, 2023, the State of Mississippi afford its residents a religious exemption for their children to attend school without one or more state mandated vaccines!
A written entry on the Court’s docket was issued shortly after the hearing providing, in relevant part:
Minute Entry for proceedings before District Judge Halil S. Ozerden: Hearing on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction held on 4/17/2023. Court heard testimony and additional argument. For the reasons stated on the record, and to be more fully detailed in a written order to follow, the Court will grant Plaintiffs’ Motion. From and after July 15, 2023, Defendants Daniel P. Edney, in his official capacity as the State Health Officer … their officers, agents, servants, and employees, and anyone acting in active concert or participation with them will be enjoined from enforcing Mississippi Code § 41-23-37 [Mississippi’s compulsory school vaccination law] unless they provide an option for individuals to request a religious exemption from the vaccine requirement.
Mississippi is one of only six states that does not have a religious exemption for students to attend school. Numerous parents have sincerely held religious beliefs that do not permit them to vaccinate their children, including because of the involvement and development of vaccines using the products of abortions. Those parents were put in an impossible position as they were forced to violate their sincere religious beliefs if they wanted to send their children to school.
Read the Full press release here.