SE Illinois News

Nearly 90 teachers recently filed a class-action lawsuit against Gov. J.B. Pritzker that asks a judge to hand down judgments against vaccine requirements, testing, mask, and exclusion policies without orders of quarantine, according to the Lake McHenry Scanner.

“First we must test, then you take away the option to test and make us get the vaccine,” District 186 teacher Kimberly Smoot said in a release. “Next, that’s not enough and we must get a booster according to your schedule. When we give up our rights, even if it’s little by little, we will never get them back.”

“It’s not about a vaccine, it’s about freedom,” gubernatorial candidate Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville), wrote on Twitter. “The mandate candidate, @JBPritzker is acting like a tyrant and overstepping his power. These decisions should be between you and your doctor, and the government is not your doctor. Keep standing for freedom.”

The challenge in Sangamon County Circuit Court argues the governor’s move violates the state’s Health Care Right of Conscience Act, a release said.

“The educators object to the vaccination and testing of the coronavirus as both health care services violate their moral conscience,” the lawsuit states. “Should the educators object to these proposed health care services, the law prohibits the defendants from discriminating against them.”

 The lawsuit names 22 school districts, the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the governor.

One of the teachers involved in the suit is Kadence Koen, who opposed the mandate that teachers get the COVID-19 vaccination, and later revealed that she was vaccinated.

“I didn’t want to have to produce a vaccination card because I don’t think that’s legal or appropriate, but if you ask me to choose between my personal beliefs and my students, my students will win,” Koen, business and math teacher at Southeast High School, told the State Journal-Register.