Yes you read that right. Arizona mother Rebecca Firlit, the mother of an 11-year-old boy, has been banned from seeing her son under partial parental custody because she is not vaccinated against COVID-19. The woman says she explained to the courts that she has had bad reactions from vaccines and it has caused health issues.
“I’ve had adverse reactions to vaccines in the past and was advised not to get vaccinated by my doctor. It poses a risk,” Ferlit told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I was confused because (the hearing) was just supposed to be about expenses and child support. I asked him what it had to do with the hearing, and he said, ‘I am the judge, and I make the decisions for your case.’ ”
Judge James Shapiro asked Firlit if she was vaccinated and she told him she was not. The judge stripped her of all parenting rights until she receives the vaccination. Firlit’s lawyer, Annette Fernholz, told several Chicago media outlets that Firlit and her former husband have been divorced for seven years and that the ex-husband did not address the lack of vaccination as a problem. The two have joint custody. However, the father supports the judge’s decision.
Firlit fought back though, and did not give up. “The trial court clearly exceeded its authority in sua sponte (by its own accord) suspending the mother’s parenting time when the issue before the court was child support,” attorney Fernholz told Fox 32 in Chicago. “The father did not bring this issue before the court.” Since the judge acted off his own belief’s, the decision was reversed. She is waiting to reunite with her son. She says she talks to him every day over the phone. “He cries. He misses me. I send him care packages.”
The question is now, how many more judges will take it upon themselves to determine if a child is safe or not with an unvaccinated parent?
