What just happened at the U.S. Supreme Court wasn’t so much a victory as a vindication.
The U.S. Constitution recognizes our right to free exercise of religion and restricts the government from interfering with this right. Freedom of religion includes the choice not to act in a way that conflicts with our faith.
Some parents, religious or not, oppose vaccines for their children, particularly the Amish. The Amish in New York refuse to allow vaccines and sought a religious exemption.
The state of New York used to allow religious exemptions for school vaccines, but stopped in 2019, according to First Liberty Institute. In 2022, the state retaliated against Amish parents.
A lower court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in the government’s favor. But the Supreme Court disagreed with both.
The high court vacated the Second Circuit’s ruling and asked the court to reconsider in light of Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025). The Supreme Court ruled in Mahmoud that Montgomery County Public Schools violated parents’ right to opt their children out of homosexual “transgender” indoctrination under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. The school district also failed to notify parents.
All freedom-minded Americans want to be left alone and raise their children as they see fit.
“Who is the authority over our children? said Kelly Shackelford, president, CEO, and Chief Counsel at First Liberty. “Their parents or government bureaucrats? Ultimately, this case will affect every American- their religious freedoms and the authority of every parent to raise their children according to their faith.”
We have a Supreme Court favorable to interpreting the law as intended: to restrain the government from violating our constitutional rights.
Photo credit: U.S. Secretary of Defense
