Student opposed to chickenpox vaccine takes case to court

BURLINGTON, Ky. (WKRC) - A Catholic high school student took his fight against the chickenpox vaccine to court Monday in the hopes a judge will allow him to return to school without being immunized.

Jerome Kunkel, 18, is a senior at Assumption Academy. Jerome says he and 30 other students have been barred by the Northern Kentucky Health Department from going to school because they have not received the chickenpox vaccine. Jerome and the other students have not been immunized on religious grounds because they claim the vaccine is made from the cells of aborted fetuses.

"This has got baby cells in it. They killed these babies to get this. If they're worried about our health, why are they murdering 60 million babies out there?" said Bill Kunkel, Jerome's father.

The vaccine is made with MRC-5 cells. Those cells come from a line derived from the lung tissue of an aborted fetus. The cell line was isolated in 1966. Dr. Gary Marshall of the University of Louisville testified the cells used in the vaccine grow in a laboratory on their own and do not come from aborted fetuses. Dr. Marshall said chickenpox can be serious and is spread easily.

"All you have to do is breathe on someone," Dr. Marshall said.

Dr. Marshall specializes in pediatric infectious diseases. He testified the Northern Kentucky Health Department did the right thing when officials decided to temporarily keep the students, including Jerome, from attending school to prevent it from spreading. Dr. Marshall said the vaccine will also reduce the number of cases of shingles.

"If we don't think it's a public health problem, we should tell the hundreds of parents who've lost children from this infection," Dr. Marshall said.

But Jerome's attorneys called a doctor to testify for their case who didn't believe chickenpox was that serious. Dr. Toni Bark testified it was irrational to keep children home from school to prevent the spread of chickenpox.

"It's good for the community for children to get chickenpox. They get it over with; they're not worried about getting it in childbearing years or passing it to their infant," Dr. Bark said.

Jerome and other students have been prohibited from taking part in sporting events as well, and the students have been completing school work at home.

"They need to look for alternatives, and that's what I'd like them to do to bring out awareness that they should be looking at alternatives," Bill said.

Jerome said he was happy with how the court proceeding unfolded.

"Today, in my mind, it went great. A lot of things were brought up that, obviously, we had no idea about with the more abortion," said Jerome.

The attorney for the health department said the law was clear and that health department officials did not abuse their authority in keeping the students from returning to school. Attorney Jeff Mando said Jerome's parents were made aware by the health department that he could be temporarily removed from school during an outbreak because he had not been immunized.

"The right to practice their religion simply does not include the liberty to expose children and the community to a communicable disease," Mando said. "It’s absolutely clear that the case law supports a government’s temporary exclusion of unvaccinated students from school during an outbreak of a chickenpox virus, and that type of exercise does not violate the student’s exercise of religion under the First Amendment.”

Judge J.R. Schrand could issue a decision by Wednesday.

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