Why parents sued over emergency ban

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SHORT: Rockland's emergency declaration?

The parent also explains the choice to obtain a religious exemption from vaccinating the child.

"We are NOT against vaccinations. We believe that the GOD created the body, and it should remain untainted by man, "the parent stated, attributing it to deeply held religious beliefs without disclosing a specific denomination.

The Supreme Court Judge Rolf Thorsen issuing a temporary injunction halting the emergency declaration.

Waldorf school and parenting

One parent described to Chestnut Ridge specifically to educate two children at Green Meadow Waldorf School.

"We believe in the principals of Waldorf Education – the education of the whole child – physical, social, emotional, and mental / academic," said the parent.

Green Meadow, which educates about 300 children in nursery school through grade 12, adhere to Rudolf Steiner's teachings of anthroposophy, which is "the belief that humanity has the wisdom to transform itself and the world, through one's own spiritual development," according to Association of Waldorf Schools of North America.

The parent who is relocated to be near the school also taught how to do it in a makeshift homeschooling arrangement during the exclusion measles, short records show.

"We created a physical space for schooling the children in our home, put up a chalkboard, and reorganized our basement," the parent said. "We are doing so in order to do so."

The home-schooling attempt, however, proved insufficient as the exclusion orders stretched, the parent said.

"While I'm trying to play some parts for my 5th grade, I'm not a trained teacher," said the parent. "He was not getting the education he needs and deserves. He was suffering on a mental / academic level. "

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Jeff Sterling of Nyack, left, getting his MMR booster from Dept. of Health nurse Sheela Geevarghese during a measles (MMR) vaccination clinic at Rockkland County WIC Office in Haverstraw on Friday, April 5, 2019. (Photo: John Meore / The News Journal)

The Waldorf schools association has stated that it does not include avoidance of, or resistance to, childhood immunization.

The association also notes that it encourages parents to consider their civic responsibility regarding immunizations, but ultimately the decision is made by parents in consultation with their physician.

"The health, safety, and well-being of children are forefront concerns," the association said.

In addition to the Rockland legal battle, a Waldorf school in North Carolina has become controversial over a chickenpox outbreak that has become more widespread than 20 years ago, USA TODAY Network reported.

At least 36 students at Asheville Waldorf School contracted the varicella virus, known to most as chickenpox. The school has one of the highest immunization rates in North Carolina.

'Coerced' vaccination

During the Rockland's exclusion, the temporary homeschooling parent's 9th grade daughter was taking classes digitally through an internet streaming program.

But the girl's grades started to slip and the parent finally got her vaccinated, despite a prior religious exemption, short records show.

"While I accept our choice to get the vaccination, it felt like we were coerced into making that decision," the parent said. "It did not come out of our own free will."

The parent continued; "Indeed, this decision violated my beliefs about vaccinations which are personal and specific to my children. I believe in my freedom of choice and well-informed consent around any medical intervention. I always research multiple sides and get various expert opinions on any issue, especially medical. "

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The 5th grade boy, however, has been enrolled in a Connecticut school that accepted the unspecified religious exemption, short records show.

"That exemption reflects our belief that vaccinations are against the maker and will impure substances into his body," the parent said. "That will always inform our behavior until we are forced to vaccinate our daughter to avoid even greater harm to her."

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Kevin Connery from Brooklyn holds a protest outside the Rockland County Office Building in New York City in Protest of the State of Emergency on Friday, March 29, 2019. (Photo: John Meore / The News Journal)

Another parent, whose husband is a faculty member at the school, is described as being overwhelmed by the emotional and logistical burdens of having two children in the school.

The weight of the situation is the vaccine's oldest, short records show.

"Deciding between our religious rights and our children's right to an education is not a choice," said the woman.

After outlining the agonizing decision to vaccinate, the parent told of great-grandparents who immigrated to the U.S. in 1910.

These things are very much in the process of being judged, that is what is made of my brave and great-grandmother. "The woman said, describing New York as a beacon of religious tolerance at the time.

"Now, 109 years later, the government of New York is telling me about my religious beliefs," she said, referring to Rockland's orders.

"And now the time has come for that mother to stand up and say 'enough is enough.'"

Reasons for not vaccinating

Another parent of two children, ages 7 and 9, described in the context of childbirth.

"The pressure to have my children vaccinated has taken their toll on my family's health," the parent said, quoting how to ease depression.

The parents also decided to vaccinate children to get back to school, despite violating their beliefs.

"As for my family, this choice between the two evils is not an option," said the parent. "Under the constitution, nobody should lose their freedom and be forced to suffer this way."

The religious exemption described by this parent is an agreement and refers to the understanding of God's will.

"We are honest, kind, helpful, hardworking people. Our vegetarian diet keeps us healthy and does harm to other living beings, "said the parent. "Since the blood is the carrier of the soul, injections of vaccine-substances, often animal or embryo derived, are strictly forbidden."

Another parent describes the family's reason for not vaccinating girls, ages 5 and 8.

"We carry strong spiritual beliefs that the body is more likely to be manipulated and that it is a mode of transformation for the body if it naturally responds to illness," said the parent, adding that they would not adhere to vaccination by coercion.

Some of the parents explained they're living on the Waldorf campus as faculty or workers there. One couple described having three children excluded for being unvaccinated due to Buddhism and religious beliefs.

The woman involved was raised in the Shinto religion of Japan. She is working at the school to help coordinate exclusion-related staffing.

"In the begging of the exclusion, I was able to visit them," she said, adding it ruined her health.

"I feel I'm always running in between my children and my students," she added.

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