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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think the judge overstepped by removing mothers parenting time due to vaccine status...

63 replies

samyeagar · 30/08/2021 16:27

I used to be on the fence about vaccine mandates and passports, but after this, not any more.

www.newsweek.com/mother-vaccine-parental-rights-judge-chicago-1623942

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/08/30/chicago-judge-rules-mom-cant-see-son-not-vaccinated/5647445001/

I used to be one of those people who would dismiss slippery slope arguments as they are usually scare mongering and baseless, but after this...not any more.

I have been vaccinated myself, and wish more people would be, but at the same time, the black and white extreme polarization and politicization of covid-19 has just gotten so far out of hand.

For those not wanting to click on the links, the summary is that a divorced couple with an 11 year old child, shared custody had a child support and expense hearing. During the hearing, the judge inquired as to the mothers covid vaccine status. The mother indicated she was un vaccinated due to past adverse reactions, and her doctor had advised against her receiving the vaccine. The judge then revoked the mothers parenting time until such time as she became vaccinated. The issue of parenting time, covid vaccine was not actually brought before the court by either party. The judge did that of his own volition.

No doubt this will be over turned on appeal, but the fact that it even happened in the first place is very ominous. Even more so that reading through comment sections across multiple sites carrying this story, the sheer number of people who are cheering and applauding this judge is really eye opening.

OP posts:
OneTC · 30/08/2021 16:31

Do you live in USA?

Original poster
samyeagar · 30/08/2021 16:33

@OneTC

Do you live in USA?
I do yes. In Illinois in fact.
OP posts:
Freddiefox · 30/08/2021 16:33

This is a situation where she can’t do the right thing. If she’d gone against the doctors advice it well could have been used as Example
Of her not taking her health seriously

Original poster
samyeagar · 30/08/2021 16:37

@Freddiefox

This is a situation where she can’t do the right thing. If she’d gone against the doctors advice it well could have been used as Example Of her not taking her health seriously
That's true, but even more so, parenting time, vaccine status, health was not even the purpose of the hearing. Neither party had raised that issue before the court. The judge injected that on his own.
OP posts:
MistressoftheDarkSide · 30/08/2021 16:55

I read about this case on a couple of other sites and think it's terrible - but it's bound to happen more and more if the hysteria around being unvaccinated is allowed to run unchecked. I hope this is challenged legally. If this was about the safety of the child, testing before visits would be the logical route, given that the vaccine does not confer absolute immunity nor zero risk of transmission. This is power play pure and simple.

TheKeatingFive · 30/08/2021 16:57

I agree OP. This seems utterly nonsensical.

lockdownmadnessdotcom · 30/08/2021 16:59

So her doctor advised her not to be vaccinated, and she's being punished for it?

I wonder if the same decision would have been made if the father was the unvaccinated one? Somehow I think not.

Penistoe · 30/08/2021 17:03

Do you live in USA?

I do yes. In Illinois in fact

Aww but the poster was so desperate to be smug.

bellabasset · 30/08/2021 17:04

I do think the Judge should have taken the medical advice into consideration when giving his ruling.

BenjiMcSchmenzie · 30/08/2021 17:09

@bellabasset

I do think the Judge should have taken the medical advice into consideration when giving his ruling.
He shouldn't have even considered the mother's vaccination status when making his ruling. It was totally irrelevant.

I am in the same position as the mother here - cannot get vaccinated due to risk of extreme adverse reaction. Am I an unfit mother because of that? Jesus.

The poor kid(s) and the poor mum.

Original poster
samyeagar · 30/08/2021 17:11

@bellabasset

I do think the Judge should have taken the medical advice into consideration when giving his ruling.
Well, the deeper issue, and in my opinion, the most ominous issue was that vaccine and health status was not even the purpose of the hearing. The judge just did that on a whim with no prior notice to either of the parties involved. There was no hearing regarding vaccine status and parenting time.
OP posts:
Original poster
samyeagar · 30/08/2021 17:16

I am in the same position as the mother here - cannot get vaccinated due to risk of extreme adverse reaction. Am I an unfit mother because of that? Jesus.

You may not be an unfit mother, but according to this judges ruling, at least in the state of Illinois, since you are unvaccinated, you should not be allowed to be around your child...

Never mind the fact that the child is around any number of unvaccinated people every day in school because well, kids are all unvaccinated...

OP posts:
beastlyslumber · 30/08/2021 17:30

That's terrifying. The creeping authoritarianism all across the West.

OhRene · 30/08/2021 17:31

So she isn't even an anti vaxxer. Crazy. The judge shouldn't have said a damn thing about that. Idiots, anti-vaxxers-pro-lifers, racists, flat Earthers, Bible thumpers, climate change deniers and Holocaust deniers are all allowed to be parents. It's not up to that judge.

SalsaLove · 30/08/2021 17:33

It will probably be overturned since it’s a ruling not upholding a law.

MinesAMassiveSalad · 30/08/2021 17:34

Some slopes are slippery.🤷

Original poster
samyeagar · 30/08/2021 17:38

@SalsaLove

It will probably be overturned since it’s a ruling not upholding a law.
Oh, I suspect that it will be over turned. Or at least I would have in the past, but who knows any more. The fact that this even happened this way...

Mind you, Illinois is a very deep liberal democrat state, and that the judge felt comfortable enough with the current political rhetoric around covid-19 that he could actually make this ruling...exactly where is it going to end?

OP posts:
FourTeaFallOut · 30/08/2021 17:45

@Penistoe

Do you live in USA?

I do yes. In Illinois in fact

Aww but the poster was so desperate to be smug.

Grin
FOJN · 30/08/2021 18:33

It's absolutely chilling that the judge has made a ruling on something that was not brought to the court for consideration.

I think you are right and it will be overturned on appeal but I also think the judge knows that too so he/she has used this as an opportunity to coerce people to get vaccinated.

The judge knows this will make headlines and no one who wants to keep access to their children will risk going before any judge if they are not vaccinated.

Can any action be taken against the judge?

Like you I'm double jabbed and pro vaccine but this is too much.

PopcornMuncher · 30/08/2021 18:56

This is exactly the sort of thing "conspiracy theorists" have been warning of and maybe now we need to take them seriously Sad

Original poster
samyeagar · 30/08/2021 19:12

@PopcornMuncher

This is exactly the sort of thing "conspiracy theorists" have been warning of and maybe now we need to take them seriously Sad
Oh, I know. I had always just brushed that sort of alarmism off. Always dismissed slippery slope arguments. As I said earlier, I don't THINK this will stand, but if you'd asked me a year and a half ago if this could have even happened in the first place, I'd have called you a conspiracy theorist.

Even more frightening to me though is the large number of people commenting on the various articles about this that are fully in support of the judge...

OP posts:
Awalkintime · 30/08/2021 19:20

In America there are lots of extreme examples of misogyny,. I fear this is one of them, absolutely bugger all to do with the vax more about controlling women. If it hadn't been the vax they would've found something else.

AccidentallyOnPurpose · 30/08/2021 19:24

The judge revoked that ruling didn't he?

Original poster
samyeagar · 30/08/2021 19:28

@AccidentallyOnPurpose

The judge revoked that ruling didn't he?
What judge revoked what ruling?
OP posts:
AccidentallyOnPurpose · 30/08/2021 19:30

The Cook County judge who barred a divorced Pilsen mother from seeing her 11-year-old son earlier this month because she’s not vaccinated against COVID-19 revoked that order Monday morning.

Judge James Shapiro issued a one-paragraph order Monday vacating a portion of his Aug. 11 order that had barred Rebecca Firlit from seeing her 11-year-old son until she showed proof to the court that she was vaccinated against COVID-19.

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