Tara Nikolao v. Nick Lyon, et al.

The State of Michigan provides a statutory exemption, in the form of a waiver, to otherwise mandatory vaccination requirements for parents who object on religious or other grounds to vaccinating their school-age children. In December 2014, a new administrative rule was implemented in Michigan that requires parents seeking a waiver to attend a mandatory meeting with government health care workers. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (“MDHHS”) encourages state employees to use a government-created document (“Religious Waiver Note”) to respond to religious objections during these mandatory meetings. This Religious Waiver Note provides information (and misinformation) regarding specific religions. It includes a statement wrongly purporting to be from the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church condemning parents who refuse to inject their children with vaccines derived from aborted fetal cells. Government employees are encouraged to use the Religious Waiver Note to instruct objecting parents that their religious beliefs are wrong or are contrary to the teachings of their church. The questions presented are:

1. Does the Establishment Clause prohibit the government from forcing a citizen to endure a religious inquisition and religious instruction from government employees in order to exercise a statutory right; and

2. Must a citizen submit to government coercion by changing her religious beliefs, or by acting contrary to those beliefs, in order to establish injury-in-fact under