Tag: mandatory vaccination

California Planning to Sue Trump Admin Over Revised Child Vaccine Guidelines, Bonta Says

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Feb. 17 that the state plans to take legal action against the Trump administration over the recent modifications to the childhood vaccine schedule.

The CDC on Jan. 5, with backing from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., narrowed the number of vaccines routinely recommended by the childhood schedule.

Bonta told Reuters in an interview that he has mobilized his team to identify the necessary details for a possible complaint against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including jurisdiction and legal grounds for pursuing the lawsuit.

“I like the facts. I like science. I don’t want to give any airtime to his—I mean, just conspiracy [expletive],” Bonta told the news agency, referring to Kennedy’s stance on vaccines.

Bonta did not specify when the state might file or whether it would be a multistate filing. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who also spoke to Reuters, indicated his state may join California in the filing.

The Epoch Times reached out to HHS for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

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Florida plans to become first state to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates

Florida plans to become the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates, a longtime cornerstone of public health policy for keeping schoolchildren and adults safe from infectious diseases.

State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who announced the decision Wednesday, cast current requirements in schools and elsewhere as “immoral” intrusions on people’s rights that hamper parents’ ability to make health decisions for their children.

“People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,” Ladapo, who has frequently clashed with the medical establishment, said at a news conference in Valrico. “They don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them.”

Florida’s move, a significant departure from decades of public policy and research that has shown vaccines to be safe and the most effective way to stop the spread of communicable diseases, especially among schoolchildren, is a notable embrace of the Trump administration’s agenda led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist.

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Congress Members Urge DOJ to Investigate 4 States That Prohibit Religious Exemptions

A coalition of federal lawmakers today urged the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate four states whose laws prohibit religious exemptions for school vaccine mandates.

In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, lawmakers warned that vaccine mandate laws in New York, California, Maine and Connecticut violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.

Lawmakers also asked the DOJ to intervene in two New York lawsuits where Children’s Health Defense (CHD) is either a plaintiff or is financing the case.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) is the lead author of the letter, which is also addressed to Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights.

As of this afternoon, 13 Congress members had signed the letter.

“Religious freedom is the cornerstone of our Republic,” Steube said in a statement to The Defender. “It is inexcusable that New York, California, Maine, and Connecticut refuse to provide people of faith with a religious exemption from their vaccine mandates. This is not only a direct violation of the Free Exercise Clause, but it is also a grave assault on civil liberties.”

He added:

“Your constitutional rights should never take a backseat to a vaccine mandate. That is why I am requesting Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon launch formal investigations of all states that continue to violate the constitutional rights of the American people via coercion and infringement on their religious beliefs.”

Allowing the four states to violate citizens’ constitutional rights has emboldened states like Massachusetts and Hawaii, which are considering eliminating religious exemptions for vaccines, to “further encroach upon Americans’ rights,” according to the lawmakers.

The four states make up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, said Cait Corrigan, a former congressional candidate from New York and a medical freedom advocate who helped raise awareness at the federal level and worked with Steube’s office on the effort.

Corrigan said she hopes the DOJ will intervene in “the tragedy that is happening in these four states.”

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Air Force Blocks Retirement of Exemplary Officer and Discharges Her Over Lawful Objections to Vaccines

An exemplary Air Force officer is losing her retirement after a Board of Inquiry abruptly closes the door on her.

The Gateway Pundit spoke to Davis Younts, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer, who now serves as Maj. Kim Bitter’s legal counsel. Upon thoroughly assessing her career, he said, “She has had an outstanding career. No issues. No misconduct. You’ll find nothing negative about her service. Her character and integrity have never been questioned.”

Rather what has been repeatedly observed is the military pretending as though First Amendment rights do not apply to service members, the very individuals who have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.

During the COVID-19 era, Maj. Bitter filed a request for a medical exemption from the shot due to a preexisting health condition. Even though a doctor advised her against the shot, the military rejected her request. She also filed for a religious accommodation, but that request was denied as well. Violation of her rights, number one, but read on about the impending atrocities.

Younts said, “Major Kim Bitter was literally eight points—two drill periods— away from having 20 good years of service.” She was just one drill weekend away from being eligible to retire from the Air Force Reserve.

Maj. Bitter would be out-processed to Inactive Ready Reserve and placed in a no points, no pay status for two and a half years as punishment for opposing the shot, which has now been declared “unlawful as implemented.”

“Because of the no points, no pay status that she’s been put on,” Younts said, “she’s been prohibited from reaching 20 years [to become eligible for retirement].”

Despite being allowed to return to drill, she was again put on a no points, no pay status over her objections to the flu and typhoid vaccines, resulting her discharge from the Air Force Reserve.

This week, Maj. Bitter was sent to a Board of Inquiry (BOI) facing accusations of “dereliction of duty, unlawful drug use, and violating a lawful order to get the flu vaccine and typhoid vaccine,” Younts shared.

“What came out and was clear from the Board is no in command or in JAG channels realized that dereliction of duty is not a legally sufficient basis to discharge someone [emphasis mine].” Why wouldn’t the Board or the JAG officers be aware of this?

The accusation involved nothing more than being blamed for failing to complete a task during a power outage at Travis Air Force Base, which prevented her from accessing the systems needed to perform the work assigned to her.

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Air Force is “Hellbent” on Ending the Career of a Brigadier General Over His Opposition to the COVID-19 Mandate

In Air Force Brigadier General Christopher Sage’s case, he was left in command. No action was taken against him because of the many legal errors in the investigation. His own chain of command continued to support him and recommend him for promotion.

That is, until those voices were disregarded and he was taken off the two-star promotion list due to a flawed investigation that included his opposition to COVID-19 mandate policies.

The Gateway Pundit spoke to Brig Gen Sage, who, after three decades of honorable service to his country, now finds it difficult to come to terms with the fact that those in authority appear indifferent, or at least that’s the impression they create by disregarding his pleas for help.

“Why is the Air Force still not listening? Why are they still doubling down on a flawed investigation and hellbent on retiring me? Why are they not complying with President Donald Trump’s order to nullify all actions taken by the autopen?” These are only a handful of the questions that crowd his mind each day as he observes his own exemplary 31-year career come to an end, with a forced retirement looming on December 31, 2025.

According to reviewed documents, Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), and nine other Congressmen have called for the investigation against him to be dismissed. These same individuals have also requested a formal inquiry into the Air Force Inspector General (IG) who oversaw his case. “They called out his conduct and misuse of the IG system,” Brig Gen Sage explained. “Rather than investigate the IG, the Air Force promoted him to 4-star general.”

In March 2024, after two years of delay, Brig Gen Sage was issued a memo bearing the autopen signature of former President Joe Biden, which removed him from the promotion list. The Air Force is still acting as if the document is binding despite President Trump’s call to terminate executive actions signed by Biden’s autopen. Even the Department of War appears to be ignoring Trump’s intention.

Have attorneys like the acting General Counsel Shannon McGuire and the Deputy General Counsel for Military Affairs Julia Muedeking also played a role in the destruction of Brig Gen Sage’s career? For many following his story, it begs the question: Who are the lawyers and bureaucrats advising the Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF), or the Secretary of War for that matter? These very people are the same ones who advised the last administration on implementing the illegal COVID-19 shot mandate. They now appear intent on waiting Brig Gen Sage out until December 31, effectively forcing the one-star into retirement.

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Troops Discharged Over Biden’s Vaccine Mandate to Receive Honorable Status.

The Trump administration is directing the Pentagon to proactively review and upgrade the records of service members discharged from the U.S. military for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine under the former Biden government. Administration officials say the effort aims to restore honor to individuals who received “general discharge” as a result of the mandate.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, in a December memorandum, emphasized the progress made since the initial directive to reinstate veterans who were involuntarily discharged or voluntarily left military service due to the “unfair, overbroad, and unnecessary” COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The new directive expands these efforts by ordering a review of personnel records to identify those discharged solely for vaccine refusal and facilitate appropriate upgrades.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell explained the impetus for the new directive, “Under the previous administration, the Department involuntarily separated approximately 8,700 Service members for failing to comply with the Department’s since-rescinded COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Of those, more than 3,000 received less-than-honorable discharge characterizations.” Parnell added that military departments have been instructed to complete their reviews within one calendar year, with no action required from former service members.

Military service members impacted by the former Biden government vaccine mandate may also access the military board review website to address any perceived errors or injustices in their records. “The Department is committed to ensuring that everyone who should have received a fully honorable discharge receives one and continues to right wrongs and restore confidence in, and honor to our fighting force,” Parnell noted.

Additionally, an Executive Order signed by President Donald J. Trump in November reinstated GI benefits for veterans discharged due to the vaccine mandate.

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HS Senior Escorted from School for Following Doctors’ Orders and Skipping Vaccine Booster

A high school senior in a western New York school has been banned because she did not get a vaccine booster that causes her to have serious side effects.

Depew High School senior Kayci Rae was escorted out of school on Oct. 16 because she did not get a meningitis booster shot, according to WKBW-TV.

“I just sit and scroll, there’s really not much else I could do,” she said. “It’s more emotional with it being my senior year. I feel like I’m shunned from Depew.

“They wouldn’t let me say goodbye to teachers, they wouldn’t let me go into the classroom,” Rae said. “I was in tears. It was hard, it was truly devastating, honestly.”

She is now in limbo, because the email she used to connect with the school was recently disabled.

“She had leg pain,” Andrea Billi, Rae’s mother, said. “You know, when you’re younger, having growing pains? That’s what we thought, then it progressed. Her legs will turn purple and go numb.”

Kayci’s aunt Shannon told WBEN-AM that at first, “We kind of almost ignored it, because we were like, ‘Is [she] just trying to get attention for it?’ But then she started showing us her legs when she would get these flares, her legs started to mottle. I don’t know if anybody knows what that is, it’s almost like a marbling of your skin, and essentially it’s a vasospasm of your legs. So her legs would blanch, turn colors, and she would get this pain.”

“It’s disabling for her,” Shannon said, indicating the problems have not gone away.

“She’s had her friends give her piggyback rides because her legs would literally hurt her. There was a time where she collapsed at her softball game, which the school nurse was her softball coach and her softball coach witnessed all of this,” she said.

“And she was in softball two, three years ago, and she would actually have to sit out mid-game because her pain would start to flare from the high intensity activity. And her teammates would be there rolling their bats on her legs,” Shannon said, adding that the school was told of this.

Billi said her daughter has had multiple tests that have come up empty.

“The only factor that we came to a conclusion on was this all started after she got the vaccine,” she said.

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U.S. Supreme Court Smacks Down Lower Court in Major Win for Amish Families Fighting New York’s Draconian School Vaccine Mandates

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reversed a lower-court decision that had sided with New York State’s sweeping school vaccine mandates, and ordered the case back to the appeals court for a full reconsideration.

At the center of the case is a shocking and deeply disturbing campaign by New York officials to bankrupt Amish schools, intimidate parents, and shut down religious education entirely, all because the Amish refuse to inject their children with state-mandated vaccines that violate their longstanding religious beliefs.

Despite admitting that the Amish families were sincere in their religious beliefs, the New York Department of Health slapped three one-room Amish schools with devastating penalties:

  • $52,000 against Dygert Road School
  • $46,000 against Twin Mountains School
  • $20,000 against Shady Lane School

These fines were issued for a single day of alleged “noncompliance,” and the DOH openly bragged in its filings that it was being “generous,” warning that future fines would be even more severe.

The department declared that each unvaccinated child attending school constituted a separate violation worth up to $2,000 per day.

The Amish schools, which receive no government funding, operate on private land, and are central to the community’s religious life, face closure because the families have no means of paying these six-figure state-imposed financial attacks.

In one year alone, some New York schools granted medical exemptions to 30–50% of their students, depending entirely on local administrator discretion. But the Amish? Zero tolerance. Zero accommodation. Zero exemptions.

Lower courts dismissed their claims. But on Monday, the nation’s highest court issued a rare and forceful correction.

In its Monday order, the Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated the judgment, and remanded the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for reconsideration “in light of Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U.S. 522 (2025),” a landmark ruling handed down earlier this year strengthening protections for religious objectors against state public-health mandates.

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Health Department Investigating School That Vaccinated Child Without Parental Consent

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Dec. 3 that it has launched an investigation into a school that officials said illegally vaccinated a child without parental consent.

HHS did not name the school. The department said it is in the Midwest and acted illegally in part because it ignored a religious exemption for the vaccination that had been filed pursuant to state law.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights will be looking into the matter to ascertain whether the school failed to comply with a requirement under the federal Vaccines for Children Program. The program, which provides vaccines to various institutions, mandates that immunization providers comply with state law surrounding exemptions from mandated vaccines.

“To protect the integrity of the investigation, HHS cannot share additional details at this time,” an HHS spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.

Officials also released a letter on Dec. 3 to doctors and others, informing them that they must generally provide parents access to the medical records of children, with limited exceptions. The letter warned that HHS was making access to minor records a priority and that the agency will use tools it has at its disposal, including fines, to ensure compliance.

“Today, we are putting pediatric medical professionals on notice: you cannot sideline parents,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “When providers ignore parental consent, violate exemptions to vaccine mandates, or keep parents in the dark about their children’s care, we will act decisively. We will use every tool at our disposal to protect families and restore accountability.”

Jim O’Neill, deputy HHS secretary and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the Vaccines for Children Program “should never circumvent parents’ rights.”

The program, which began operations in 1994, sends vaccines to providers to administer to children at no cost. The program “reduces disparities in child vaccination rates, ensuring that any child can access recommended vaccines regardless of income or geography,” the CDC states on its website.

Schools across the country mandate multiple vaccines for school attendance, based on the CDC’s immunization schedule.

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Colorado Medical School Will Pay $10.3 Million After Denying Religious Exemptions for COVID Vaccine

The University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine will pay more than $10.3 million to 18 faculty and students whose religious exemptions to the school’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy were denied, a group representing the plaintiffs announced Monday.

The lawsuit challenged the university’s refusal to accommodate sincerely held religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine. The plaintiffs, who sued anonymously, included physicians, medical students, nurses and administrative staff.

The Thomas More Society, which filed the lawsuit and represents clients in religious liberty cases nationwide, stated that the settlement is a rare instance in which plaintiffs recovered monetary damages under the First Amendment for a government COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Michael McHale, senior counsel at the Thomas More Society, said the resolution cannot undo the harm inflicted on the plaintiffs.

“No amount of compensation or course-correction” can make up for the damage caused by the university’s vaccine mandate, McHale said. “At great, and sometimes career-ending, costs, our heroic clients fought for the First Amendment freedoms of all Americans who were put to the unconscionable choice of their livelihoods or their faith.”

Details of the settlement, which followed more than a year of negotiations, were not released. According to the Thomas More Society, the school agreed to cover damages, tuition and attorneys’ fees.

The settlement ends nearly five years of related litigation in state and federal courts.

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