Religious objection to vaccination: Re WSP (A Child)

Background

In WSP (A Child), Re (Vaccination: Religious Objection) [2023] EWHC 2622 (Fam), UPP, the mother of a 9-month-old boy, WSP, who had been in local authority care since March 2023, asked the Court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to injunct the local authority from exercising its parental responsibility under s.33(3) Children Act 1989 to arrange for the child to receive several routine childhood vaccinations [1]. She maintained that it was not in WSP’s best interests to be vaccinated and that to vaccinate him without her consent would violate her rights under Article 9 ECHR, both alone and when taken together with Article 14, as given effect by the Human Rights Act 1998. The local authority and the guardian opposed the application [2]. Continue reading