No, Trump Didn’t Give Parents a New Right to Sue Over Vaccines — But Here’s What He Did Do:

A viral social media post making the rounds claims President Donald Trump has declared that parents can now sue states that refuse to allow religious exemptions from childhood vaccine mandates.

That’s not quite what happened. But what Trump actually did may prove more consequential than the meme suggests.

On August 10, Trump signed Executive Order 14420, Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans. Buried in Section 4 is a significant directive regarding parental rights and vaccine exemptions.

What’s Buried in Executive Order 14420

Trump directed the Attorney General to take appropriate measures to further “meritorious legal actions” challenging state laws that conflict with constitutional or federal statutory protections involving parental authority, religious freedom, disability accommodations and equal protection. The order specifically includes state obligations to provide religious and medical exemptions where applicable under federal law.

In other words, Trump didn’t give parents a brand-new right to sue.

In fact, the order explicitly states that it does not create a new substantive or procedural right enforceable in court.

What the Executive Order Does do

What it does do is direct the Department of Justice to get involved when legitimate legal challenges arise over state vaccine policies that may violate existing federal protections. DOJ, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services were also instructed to ensure that states and localities receiving federal money comply with applicable constitutional and federal protections.

So What Does this Mean for Georgia?

Georgia already recognizes a religious exemption from childhood vaccination requirements.

Parents or legal guardians with a religious objection can submit Georgia Department of Public Health Form 2208, Affidavit of Religious Objection to Immunization, to their child’s school or childcare facility. The affidavit must be notarized and states that vaccination conflicts with the parent’s sincerely held religious beliefs and that the objection isn’t based solely on personal philosophy or inconvenience.

The religious exemption does not expire. Georgia DPH says the school keeps the affidavit on file in place of the state’s usual immunization certificate.

The Exception

There is an exception when it comes to school attendance. During an epidemic or threatened epidemic involving a vaccine-preventable disease, Georgia public health authorities may exclude an unvaccinated child from school or childcare despite a religious exemption. That means parents may have to keep their child home during an outbreak, but it does not authorize the state to forcibly vaccinate the child.

Trump’s Order Could Affect Georgia in Another Way

The administration has reduced the number of diseases for which it recommends universal childhood immunization from 18 to 11 and has specifically advised states with school vaccine requirements to consider updating their laws to reflect the new federal recommendations.

Georgia currently requires vaccinations against diseases including hepatitis A, hepatitis B and meningococcal disease, subject to exemptions. Whether Georgia officials will reconsider any of those requirements in response to the new federal recommendations remains to be seen.

No Public Announcement from the DOJ

And despite the viral headline, DOJ has not publicly announced a vaccine-exemption enforcement action under the August order as of October 7. At least one organization involved in religious-exemption litigation in other states has formally asked the Attorney General to intervene.

So no, Trump didn’t just hand parents a new license to sue their state.

But he did put the power of the federal government behind enforcing existing religious-liberty and parental-rights protections in vaccine disputes.

For Georgia parents, the immediate takeaway is simpler: the religious exemption already exists here—and it has for years.

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References

White House — Executive Order 14420: Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans

White House — Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Delivers Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans

Georgia Department of Public Health — School Vaccines and Religious Exemption Information

Georgia Department of Public Health — Form 2208, Affidavit of Religious Objection to Immunization

We The Patriots USA — Request for DOJ Action in Religious-Exemption Litigation