CHURCH AND STATE

Unvaccinated Kentucky Student Sues Over School’s Chickenpox Ban

He says the vaccine violates his religious beliefs because it was cultured in cells from fetal tissue obtained decades ago.

A Kentucky high schooler is suing the state over a policy that bars students who have not been vaccinated against chickenpox—saying the shots would violate his religious beliefs because they were cultured in cells from aborted fetuses. Jerome Kunkel, 18, attends Assumption Academy in Walton, where a third of the student body has been sickened with the highly contagious virus, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The health department ordered unvaccinated students to stay away until three weeks after the last diagnosis. In his lawsuit, Kunkel said he opposes the vaccine “due to its being derived from aborted fetal cells.” While the Catholic Church has advocated for the development of vaccines that are not dependent on fetal cells, it also says the current vaccines—which are propagated in cells obtained decades ago—should not be rejected.