Cook County Judge James Shapiro had ordered a divorced mother to stay away from her son because she had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
A Chicago judge has rescinded his ruling banning an unvaccinated mother from seeing her son.
Cook County Judge James Shapiro didn't give a reason in his Monday revocation of a decision that barred divorced mother Rebecca Firlit from being with her 11-year-old son.
His one-paragraph order read “this court hereby VACATES paragraph 3 of its August 11, 2021 order based on the absence of a pleading or hearing on serious endangerment” pursuant to Illinois law, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
“I’ve had adverse reactions to vaccines in the past and was advised not to get vaccinated by my doctor. It poses a risk," the 39-year-old mother had earlier told the paper.
The issue arose earlier this month during a Zoom hearing between Firlit and her ex-husband over child support payments and custody issues, according to Firlit's attorney, Annete Fernholz. The judge asked Firlit if she had been vaccinated against COVID-19, the lawyer said.
“One of the first things he asked me when I got on the Zoom call was whether or not I was vaccinated, which threw me off because I asked him what it had to do with the hearing,” Firlit told the paper after that hearing. “I was confused because it was just supposed to be about expenses and child support. I asked him what it had to do with the hearing, and he said, ‘I am the judge, and I make the decisions for your case,'" Firlit said.
The parents share custody of their son and have been divorced for seven years, Fernholz said.
On Monday, Firlit said she was pleased with the judge's new ruling.
“I’m extremely happy, I’m going to see my son right now," she told the Sun-Times.
