Arkansas: Federal Judge Says One Woman Out in Vaccine Case

There is no question that Arkansas' immunization law applies to the children of a Royal woman who doesn't want her children immunized against hepatitis B, US District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled on Wednesday. Susan Brock, who has four children, said in November that the state had no right to require that her children be immunized against a sexually transmitted disease. Hepatitis B can be spread through sexual contact and intravenous drug use. Brock contended that forcing her to comply with state immunizations for school-age children would interfere with her authority to teach her children abstinence in accordance with her religious beliefs. According to Wright, "the immunization statute and rules and regulations together make clear that Hepatitis B is a required vaccine and that students may be excluded from school if not immunized. . . . It is also clear that Susan Brock . . . will not be granted . . . a religious exemption to the immunization requirements."

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