A judge in Illinois has stripped visitation rights from an 11-year-old boy’s mother because she has not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Earlier this month, at a child support hearing held over Zoom, Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Shapiro asked if Rebecca Firlit, the boy’s mother, had received the vaccine. She replied that she had not.
The judge said that until Firlit receives the vaccine, she cannot see her son in person, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times. Since the hearing, her interactions with him have been limited to phone calls and care packages. It’s unclear what prompted Shapiro to ask the question, and the Cook County clerk’s website was down for maintenance at the time of publication.