For Not Getting Vaccinated, Father Has Child Custody Suspended By Judge In Canada

Employees organize health post for vaccination against Covid-01 in Montreal, Canada, December . The Canadian court decided to suspend the right of an unvaccinated parent to visit their child| Photo: EFE/EPA/ANDRE PICHETTE

A judge in New Brunswick, Canada, recently blocked joint custody of a father of three for his refusal to receive a Covid vaccine-19, according to a new report.

Parents share custody of their three children, including an immunocompromised child of years, since they separated in 2020. The mother asked for the custody agreement to be changed last year because the father and his new wife refused to be vaccinated. The mother said she was concerned about the couple’s unvaccinated status due to her daughter’s ongoing treatment for non-cancerous tumors in her blood vessels, CBC News reported.

Judge Nathalie Godbout said that her decision last Monday was made with a “heavy heart”, but it was for the good of child due to the continuity of the Covid pandemic 214and the recent increase in cases related to Ômicron variant.

The judge said that the father’s refusal to being vaccinated has consequences for him and his children, who “should have the best possible chance of avoiding infection with Covid-19”.

She stated having given the father “generous” time to exercise his fatherhood over the phone or via video calls while he remains unvaccinated, reported the Toronto Star. If the father takes the vaccine, he can make an urgent request to the court to regain custody.

Although the father did not give his consent for the children to be vaccinated, the court ruled that the mother could go ahead with vaccinating the children.

“This is not a case where she wants to take the kids away from the father,” said Grant Ogilvie, the mother’s attorney. in the case, informed the CBC. “It’s about what’s best for the kids, period. She acknowledged that the decision will have an impact on the children, but said: ‘I have to do what’s best for them’”.

The case takes place around the same time that a resident of Quebec lost custody of his son

years from December to February because of his refusal to be vaccinated, according to BBC News. The father, in this case, asked to extend his vacation visitation time with his children when the mother claimedto the court that she discovered that he had not been immunized and used her social media to make posts against the vaccines.

The Quebec judge ruled that it was not “in the best interests of the child to have contact with the father” due to the increase in cases of Covid-10 in the area at that time.