Five mothers, who chosen to remain anonymous, filed a lawsuit in New York City (NYC) Monday seeking to block the mandatory vaccination order due to a massive measles outbreak that has stormed since last October.
NYC public health officials announced the mandatory vaccination order earlier this month. They declared a public health emergency over the measles outbreak, which has sickened more than 325 people so far, mostly children.
According to the order, all unvaccinated people in the affected areas must get the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine, prove immunity, or have a valid medical exemption. Lawbreakers could face a fine of $1,000.
The mothers who filed a lawsuit have claimed that the measles outbreak does not constitute a dangerous epidemic and that the order is “arbitrary and capricious.” They have also alleged that the MMR vaccine has significant safety concerns and that the mandatory vaccine order has been violating their religious freedom.
As the mothers filed a lawsuit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated this year’s count, which reported a whopping 555 confirmed cases across 20 states. The officials said that the surge is largely due to the anti-vaccine movement, where parents are refusing to vaccinate their children based on misinformation about vaccine safety.
The 2019’s tally has surpassed only by that of 2014, which had 667 confirmed cases. And in all likelihood, 2019 will surpass 2014’s total, which would make 2019 the worst year for measles in the United States this century.
In efforts to prevent such a scenario, public health departments have taken dramatic measures to block the spread of the disease. And those steps include declaring public health emergencies, barring unvaccinated children from schools and public places, and mandating immunization.
However, anti-vaccine parents have filed legal challenges to those efforts, arguing that measles is not dangerous, the vaccine is dangerous, and that the efforts violate their personal and religious freedoms.
In the Rockland County, parents filed lawsuits after public health officials barred unvaccinated children from schools and then filed a lawsuit again after officials banned them from public places. The county has been facing an ongoing measles outbreak, which has sickened 186 so far, mostly children. Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the New York City consulted with lawyers before mandating the vaccination order and he feels confident that the order will hold up in court.
