A QPC on the refusal of a couple from Yonne to have their children vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and polio was sent to the Constitutional Council. A first in France.
A couple from Yonne refused to have their two children vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and polio (DTP). By claiming “therapeutic freedom”, however, they have outlawed themselves. Unless there is a recognized medical contraindication, this vaccination is indeed compulsory (Public Health Code). For this reason, a priority question of constitutionality was transmitted on the subject to the Constitutional Council.
A period of three months to decide
“This is a first in France and a first victory”, rejoiced on francetv info Me Emmanuel Ludot, the lawyer for this Yonne family. He explained that the Constitutional Council will have to decide between two major legal principles: the right to health, contained in the preamble of the French Constitution, invoked by the parents, and the refusal or hindrance to vaccination which are punishable by two years of imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros, according to the penal code.
The highest French judicial body now has three months to judge this priority issue of constitutionality.
Out-of-school children
For their part, parents assume their choice and defend their approach by the fact that the only vaccines available today combine DTP with others such as whooping cough, hepatitis B or meningitis, which are not compulsory. . They want to be able to administer “non-adjuvant” vaccines to their children.
A choice not without consequences since, for families, it is essential to provide proof of these vaccinations for the registration of children in crèche, school, daycare, summer camp or any other community.
Parents, who refuse to have their children vaccinated, are therefore easily spotted. And they cannot therefore send their child to school.
As a reminder, faced with these parents who shun vaccination, the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) recently recognized that the vaccination system had to evolve in France. In his latest opinion, he is clearly in favor of compulsory vaccines, and believes that they should be free and more numerous. Vaccination is “the most effective public health action”, judged the HCSP in the preamble to its opinion.
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