California moms continue legal fight against state law removing religious exemptions for school vaccinations

August 15, 2025

Four California mothers have stepped up their legal efforts against a 2016 law that eliminates religious exemptions for school vaccinations, which they say is a violation of their First Amendment rights.

The Christian Post reports that Sara Royce, Sarah Clark, Tiffany Brown and Kristi Caraway, with the help of attorneys from Advocates for Faith & Freedom, filed an appeal last week with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appeal follows the 2023 dismissal of their claims by a U.S. District Court, which the mothers say was based on an incorrect legal standard.

The plaintiffs say that SB 277 unfairly targets their religious beliefs by permitting numerous secular exemptions while forcing the mothers to choose between their faith and their children’s access to education.

SB 277 repealed personal belief exemptions which had been allowed since 1961, including those based upon religious convictions, and only recognized medically-valid exemptions under the law.

According to the Christian Post, the mothers filed their initial lawsuit in November 2023, arguing that their religious objections were rooted in concern over the development of vaccines using aborted fetal cells.

The women say they were unable to comply with the state’s vaccination requirements, which effectively bars their children from attending school.

Under SB 277, numerous secular exemptions allow unvaccinated students to attend public or private school based on family status or economic life, including those who are in foster care, homeless or receiving special education services.

Erin Mersino, vice president of Advocates for Faith & Freedom, said, “Before the state is allowed to ban schoolchildren from all public and private schools in California, it must demonstrate that doing so is necessary.“

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