WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Minors aged 11 and up in the nation’s capital are temporarily no longer eligible to receive vaccines without parental knowledge or consent after a federal court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction against Washington, D.C.’s Minor Consent for Vaccination Act (MCA) on March 18 following a lawsuit by the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN).
“Healthcare providers recommend against vaccinations if individuals reacted poorly to past immunizations. A VIS [Vaccine Information Statement] describes the risks of certain vaccines and explains when they are contraindicated… By removing the parent from the vaccine decision, the MCA undercuts a key purpose of the VIS and a safety check before the vaccination,” Trump-appointed judge Trevor McFadden wrote in the ruling.
“[T]he MCA encourages children to deceive their parents. Once a child has gone behind her parents’ backs to get a vaccine, what is she supposed to do if she has a negative reaction? Some children might tell their parents; others very well might be afraid and try to hide their actions. Besides the obvious medical risk such a situation entails, this throws a wrench in the NCVIA’s (National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act) goal of ‘[f]ast, informal adjudication’ of vaccine injuries,” added the judge, referring to the 1986 law that grants vaccine makers legal immunity from death or injury from their products.
As Children’s Health Defense (CHD) explained in a March 4, 2022 article, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) established the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), “a special, no-fault tribunal housed within the U.S. Court of Federal Claims,” that “handles injury claims for 16 common vaccines.”
“It is difficult to obtain compensation within the NVICP. Payouts, including attorneys’ fees, are funded by a 75-cent tax per vaccine. There is a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering. The proceedings are often turned into drawn-out, contentious expert battles and the backlog of cases is substantial,” explained CHD’s Megan Redshaw.
Preemptively defending his ruling, McFadden continued by stating that “Enjoining the MCA will not prevent children from being vaccinated…The only impact will be that children will be unable to decide to get vaccinations without their parents’ consent.” He added, “States and the District are free to encourage individuals—including children—to get vaccines. But they cannot transgress on the Program Congress created. And they cannot trample on the Constitution.”
D.C. lawmakers originally passed the Minor Consent for Vaccinations Act Amendment in 2020. The controversial law allowed “a minor” of “11 years of age or older” to consent to receive a vaccine so long as “the minor” fit the subjective criterion of being “capable of meeting the informed consent standard.”
According to the ruling, the injunction was given because in the estimation of the judge, the four legal standards required for granting an injunction – likely success on the merits, likely irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, a balance of the equities in its favor, and accord with the public interest – were present in the case.
ICAN celebrated the victory on social media, thanking its donors and supporters for making the victory possible.
“BREAKING NEWS: The ICAN funded lawsuit against the Minor Consent For Vaccination Act in Washington DC has WON the PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION. Minor children will NO LONGER be vaccinated without parental consent in DC!! #WINNING” wrote ICAN CEO Del Bigtree on social media.
BREAKING NEWS: The ICAN funded lawsuit against the Minor Consent For Vaccination Act in Washington DC has WON the PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION. Minor children will NO LONGER be vaccinated without parental consent in DC!! #WINNING pic.twitter.com/sChxkZY1MS
— Del Bigtree (@delbigtree) March 18, 2022
“We told you we were going to fight this law the moment it was passed. This was a dangerous precedent being set in the United States of America, it has now been struck down because of our great law firm… We are very excited… In America we still have decisions to make for our children…” he celebrated.