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GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (LifeSiteNews) — Michigan mom Jenna Campau, who filed a federal lawsuit against a hospital for allegedly denying her daughter crucial medical treatment due to her COVID-19 vaccination status, scored a resounding legal and medical victory.
Jenna, the adoptive mother of then-17-year-old Ukrainian girl Alisa, had decided to pursue legal action against Spectrum Health and Helen Devos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan earlier this year, LifeSiteNews previously reported.
The move came after the hospital had allegedly refused to put Alisa on the wait list for a kidney transplant because she was not vaccinated against the coronavirus. The family has chosen not to receive the abortion-tainted COVID-19 shots due to religious objections.
With the clock running down and Alisa in urgent need of a transplant, Jenna Campau reached out to We the Patriots USA, a nonprofit that helps raise funds and connect people with legal representation to help them fight discrimination and the violation of their fundamental rights.
We the Patriots USA then connected the Campau family with a team of attorneys, who filed a federal lawsuit in the Western District of Michigan on May 13, naming Jenna Campau as the plaintiff.
The hospital has now reversed course, allowing Alisa to start her medical evaluations without requiring her to get the jab.
Victory for 17 year-old Alisa Campau!
🎉Helen DeVos Children’s Hosp has now agreed to perform the necessary medical evaluations for placement on the pediatric kidney transplant list w/o a covid jab 🎉
Thank you for everyone that supported this lawsuit!https://t.co/mpeoG0LxZj
— We The Patriots USA (@WTPatriotsUSA) July 8, 2022
“As soon as we filed, everything changed for Jenna Campau and her daughter Alisa,” We the Patriots USA co-founder and vice president Brian Festa told LifeSiteNews in a phone interview Thursday.
“Suddenly, whereas before they hadn’t been willing to have her go through any of the evaluations necessary for the transplant, suddenly they were calling her up and scheduling her for all of the evaluations,” he said.
In a statement, Jenna Campau expressed gratitude for “the quick and laser-focused help we received from We the Patriots USA when we reached out for legal assistance.”
“We are convinced that their facilitation of legal defense was absolutely the reason that Alisa has now received the medical evaluations that were previously denied,” she said, adding that “Given these new developments, and after prayerful consideration, we have decided to withdraw our lawsuit against the hospital.”
“They are very, very religious people,” Festa told LifeSite, adding that the family “prayed on this, and they felt that the best option was to withdraw the litigation” since “the doors were being opened” to move ahead with the kidney transplant process.
It’s unclear whether the family will ultimately decide to pursue treatment through Helen Devos Children’s Hospital after their legal victory.
Festa told LifeSite the federal lawsuit and resulting publicity have opened up a swath of new opportunities that could perhaps suit the family better.
Since the family filed their lawsuit in May, Festa said doctors have reached out to offer to perform the operation without requiring Alisa to get the COVID jab, and some people have even offered to donate their own kidneys.
“She’s got other options,” Festa explained, adding that “Quite frankly, I’m not sure that she would want to” continue working with Helen Devos after “the way they treated her,” since “there are places who are much more accommodating and respectful of her religious belief.”
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Festa told LifeSite his organization feels “very strongly that the reason that doors were opened to Alisa in this case is because we took legal action, because our donors stepped up, and our supporters stepped up for Alisa.”
He said Jenna and Alisa’s case “sets an important precedent that hospitals and doctors cannot deny life-saving, critical care simply because someone has refused a shot, especially when that refusal is on the basis of one’s sincerely-held religious beliefs.”
“So, what we’re hoping is that other hospitals take notice, other doctors take notice, and just know that we’re watching,” he added, noting that it’s “really dangerous” to allow doctors to deny life-saving care simply because a patient refused to get their “fifth COVID booster.”
Festa said anyone who has been denied medical care due to their religious beliefs can reach out to We the Patriots USA for help, noting that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 affirms that public accommodations, including hospitals, cannot deny services on the basis of religious beliefs.
Those interested in following legal updates from We the Patriots USA can visit the organization’s Telegram channel at t.me/wethepatriotsusa.