A Connecticut judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by parents challenging the state’s elimination of religious exemptions from school vaccine mandates.
Judge Edward Krumeich of the Connecticut Superior Court granted a motion to dismiss the case last Monday. The lawsuit was filed by parents Keira Spillane and Anna Kehle against Gov. Ned Lamont, state education and health officials, the Orange Board of Education and Whitby School.
The parents argued that vaccinating their children would violate “their closely held religious beliefs” about the sanctity of human life because some vaccines were developed using cell lines derived from aborted fetuses. They also claimed vaccines containing animal-derived components would “defile their children’s blood.”
Their lawsuit alleged violations of the Connecticut Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Connecticut Constitution and the U.S. Constitution. It cited the state constitution’s declaration that “the Free Exercise of Religion shall forever be allowed in Connecticut,” along with federal protections for free exercise and equal protection.
It cited three constitutional protections: Article I, Section III of the Connecticut Constitution, which states that “the Free Exercise of Religion shall forever be allowed in Connecticut,” the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
State officials sought dismissal based on legislation enacted in 2021 and a law passed this year clarifying that religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements are not protected by the state RFRA.
The ruling concludes four years of litigation over Connecticut’s removal of the exemption. The Connecticut Supreme Court rejected the plaintiffs’ state and federal constitutional claims in 2024. Still, it returned the RFRA issue to the Superior Court, which has now ruled that eliminating the exemption does not violate the law.
Connecticut is among a small number of states that do not permit religious exemptions from school vaccine mandates, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California, Maine, Minnesota and New York are also listed among them.
