WALTON, Ky. — A high school senior from Union, Ky. is suing a local health department after he was banned from extracurricular activities and school amid a chicken pox outbreak.
Jerome Kunkel attends Our Lady of the Sacred Heart/Assumption Academy in Walton, Ky. The Northern Kentucky Health Department sent a letter to parents on March 14 saying the school had 32 reported cases of the chicken pox.
The department canceled extracurricular activities and barred any students from attending school who either had not received the chicken pox vaccine or were not already immune to the illness.
“Although we have been working with the school to contain the illnesses since February,” stated Dr. Lynne Saddler, District Director of Health at the Northern Kentucky Health Department, “the Health Department has recently seen a concerning increase in the number of infected students at the school which has prompted us to take further control measures at the school and to make the public aware that chickenpox may be in the community.”
The health department also instructed "that all students without proof of vaccination or proof of immunity against chickenpox will not be allowed to attend school until 21 days after the onset of rash for the last ill student or staff member."
Jerome Kunkel says he's frustrated with the decision because it affected the end of his basketball season, and now his baseball season during his senior year.
"You go through four years of playing basketball in high school and you always look forward to that last couple of games as a senior and the games I missed were during the playoffs," he said.
Kunkel also told WHAS11 he is frustrated he won't be learning in class with his fellow students and teachers.
"I think it's kind of ridiculous and this is over chicken pox," he said. "Three weeks of not being with my teachers is devastating academically for me."
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Chris Wiest, claims the department violated the first amendment.
The lawsuit claims Kunkel is a practicing Catholic and member of the Assumption Church and it states, "among other fundamental and deeply held religious beliefs of Mr. Kunkel, and the beliefs of his family, is that the use of any vaccine that is derived from aborted fetal cells is immoral, illegal, and sinful."
WHAS11 also spoke with Bill Kunkel, Jerome's father. He said they do not believe in vaccinations, and do not think there is any reason for Jerome to get the chickenpox vaccine.
"We're not harming anyone. We're not doing anything to endanger the public like they keep saying," he said. "This is not just a fight for us. This is a fight for religious freedom."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chickenpox is a "highly contagious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). It can cause an itchy, blister-like rash. The rash appears first on the chest, back, and face, and then spreads over the entire body."
After the lawsuit was filed March 14, the health department responded by defending its actions.
We are aware of the lawsuit filed by Jerome Kunkel, and want to state that the actions taken by the Health Department with respect to Assumption Academy were done consistent with this agency’s statutory charge to protect the public health," it said. "The recent actions taken by the Northern Kentucky Health Department regarding the chickenpox outbreak at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart/Assumption Academy was in direct response to a public health threat and was an appropriate and necessary response to prevent further spread of this contagious illness."
According to the National Catholic Bioethics Center, the chickenpox vaccine is not derived from aborted fetus cells.
It said the vaccine's grown from cell lines with a "distant association with abortion," but adds that "one cannot accurately say that the vaccines contain any of the cells from the original abortion."
The National Catholic Bioethics Center also said "one is morally free to use the vaccine regardless of its historical association with abortion. The reason is that the risk to public health, if one chooses not to vaccinate, outweighs the legitimate concern about the origins of the vaccine. This is especially important for parents, who have a moral obligation to protect the life and health of their children and those around them."
In 2005, the Pontifical Academy for Life weighed in. It released a statement that said people should seek out alternative vaccines to those with a distant connection to abortions. But the Vatican also stated “grave reasons may be morally proportionate to justify” the use of these products, “for example, danger to the health of children could permit parents to use a vaccine which was developed using cell lines of illicit origin."
Wiest, the Kunkels attorney, said they disagree.
"The position is not necessarily consistent with the Vatican position but it is certainly not consistent with this parish's position," he said.
Wiest also told WHAS11 the parents of 18 other students at Assumption Academy have reached out to him about the case, and he plans to add plaintiffs.
There is a scheduled hearing for April 1 at 9 a.m.