By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.

Children’s Health Defense (CHD) is seeking a temporary restraining order to allow two New York high school students to attend school until the courts rule in a lawsuit challenging the state’s repeal of religious exemptions.

CHD today filed the motion in federal court on behalf of Betsy Roe and Raphael Goe, both 17.

“Betsy and Raphael have suffered tremendously as a result of the state’s 2019 repeal of religious exemptions,” said CHD General Counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg.

Mack Rosenberg said the two teens “exemplify” the harms that thousands of New York children and their parents have experienced since schools stopped granting exemptions to the state’s vaccine mandates.

In December 2025, CHD and a group of New York parents sued the state of New York in a bid to have the 2019 law declared unconstitutional. Plaintiffs include seven parents and nine children who appear in the lawsuit under pseudonyms.

The case seeks to ensure that all nine children, whose families want religious exemptions, are able to attend school. The temporary restraining order focuses exclusively on Roe and Goe, whose situations are especially dire.

Teen with Down syndrome losing vision, speech skills while out of school

Raphael Goe, who has Down syndrome and multiple autoimmune disorders, was expelled in April 2025 for failing to comply with the school’s vaccine mandates.

Without receiving educational and therapeutic services, he is regressing daily in his speech and sight, the motion states. “His condition has deteriorated so severely that he can now see out of only one eye and is unintelligible on the telephone.”

According to the complaint:

“His mother is forced to watch his stutter return and his vision deteriorate, knowing she could restore his care instantly — but only if she violates her faith.”

Goe is barred from attending school because he didn’t receive boosters for the Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) and meningococcal ACWY vaccines. The boosters don’t prevent transmission and likely don’t confer immunity to Goe, because of the immunosuppressive therapy he receives, the motion states.

His inability to attend school is causing “immediate and irreparable” harm, according to the motion.

Christina Martinez, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said “tens of thousands” of New York children have been excluded from school due to the state’s lack of a religious exemption.

“For disabled children, the impact is even more devastating because every lost month can mean losing skills they may never get back.”

‘School saved our daughter’ 

Betsy Roe, the other plaintiff in the motion filed today, is on the brink of being expelled from school for a second time due to being unvaccinated.

Roughly six years ago, Roe had to be homeschooled due to her vaccination status. She grew depressed and anxious without the structure and socialization of regular school.

In the fall of 2025, she started her junior year in high school when school district officials accepted a medical exemption that she had obtained.

But last week, the school district suddenly changed its mind. School officials told Roe’s mother, Rebecca Roe, that they were denying Betsy’s medical exemption and would formally expel her over the next few days.

“School saved our daughter,” Rebecca told The Defender. “After six years of isolation, we finally saw her come back to life — socially, emotionally, academically.”

It would “crush her” if Betsy were forced to leave school again, her mother said. “She’s thriving right now — she has friends, structure, confidence. To take that away suddenly would be emotionally shattering.”

Betsy is in the midst of college applications and New York Regents exams. She also is scheduled to compete in school athletic events for which she has trained all season.

Sujata Gibson, the lawsuit’s lead attorney, pointed out the “absurdity” of how New York currently handles exemption requests.

“New York already allows hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated individuals — including adults and students over 18 — to be present in school buildings.”

For example, Betsy’s 18-year-old sister, who is also unvaccinated, is permitted to attend the same school, simply because she is 18.

“The families in this case are not seeking special treatment,” Gibson said. “They are seeking equal treatment under the law, and the chance for their children to learn, grow and remain healthy while the courts do their work.”

Although the original complaint explained that the plaintiffs wanted a temporary restraining order, the court couldn’t rule on it until the lawyers filed a motion specifically requesting it. “That is what we are doing now,” Gibson said.

The lawyers didn’t file for the restraining order in December because Betsy was still allowed to go to school. The school’s denial of Betsy’s medical exemption — and Raphael Goe’s loss of skills — has “made emergency court intervention necessary now,” Gibson said.

Lawsuit raises ‘fundamental’ question about religious exemptions

CHD filed the lawsuit a week after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a favorable ruling in another New York religious exemption case. The Supreme Court ruling signaled strong support for parents’ rights to direct their children’s religious upbringing.

CHD’s suit is before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. It names Dr. James V. McDonald, in his official capacity as commissioner of health for the state of New York, as the sole defendant.

The plaintiffs want the court to issue an injunction allowing religious exemptions to continue without obstruction.

Currently, school officials enforce New York’s public health law related to school vaccination requirements without offering religious exemptions.

Gibson said the case raises a “fundamental” question: “Can the state categorically exclude children from all schooling because of their parents’ religious beliefs, even when less restrictive alternatives exist and when the state tolerates identical secular risks?”

“That question matters not just to these families, but to the integrity of constitutional protections for everyone,” she said.

Related articles in The Defender

• Breaking: Children’s Health Defense Sues New York in Bid to Restore Religious Exemptions
• ‘Checkmate’: U.S. Supreme Court Delivers Huge Win for Religious Exemptions
• Lawyers: U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Religious Exemptions a Big Win — But Decision Is ‘Far From’ Final
• Public Support for Religious Exemptions Nearly Doubled Over Past 6 Years
• Judge Rules in Favor of Teen in Medical Exemption Lawsuit Funded by Children’s Health Defense

The post CHD Seeks Emergency Order to Keep Teens in School Pending Religious Exemption Lawsuit appeared first on Children’s Health Defense.

 

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