Vaccines and Parenting Time

This is the second and final post in a series on how vaccines relating to parenting time and decision-making. You can find the first part of the series here.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, discussions about vaccines are everywhere. Now, they’re beginning to make their way into courtrooms as well.

On August 10, 2021, a Cook County, Illinois judge revoked Rebecca Firlit’s parenting time with her son because she didn’t have a COVID-19 vaccine. While the judge later revoked that portion of his order, it raises important questions about parenting time – can a judge prevent an unvaccinated parent from seeing his or her child?

In Colorado, the court cannot restrict a parent’s parenting time, unless the judge decides that the parenting time would: (1) endanger the child’s physical health; or (2) significantly impair the child’s emotional development.

The issue of whether remaining unvaccinated endangers a child’s physical health has not yet been decided by Colorado courts. However, factors to consider include: (1) whether the child has a weakened immune system or health issue that puts him or her at higher risk; (2) whether the parent or child regularly travel out of state or out of the country; and (3) the frequency of contact with the parent.

Do you have questions about how COVID-19 affects your parenting time? I’m here to help.