A mother-of-two was handcuffed and booked into jail for a week after refusing to take her nine-year-old son to be vaccinated.
Rebecca Bredow, from suburban Detroit, agreed to immunize her son last November during a custody battle with her husband, the judge noted in court on Wednesday.
Her ex-husband wanted their son to receive all of his vaccines, but Bredow thought it was best not to vaccinate, so the pair had to come to an agreement in court.
‘I understand that you love your children. But what I don’t think you understand is that your son has two parents, and dad gets a say,’ Judge Karen McDonald said on Wednesday.
Rebecca Bredow was handcuffed and booked into jail for a week after refusing to take her nine-year-old son to be vaccinated
Bredow, who is from suburban Detroit, agreed to immunize her son last November during a custody battle with her husband, the judge noted in court on Wednesday. However, she went back on that agreement, which landed her in jail
She found Bredow, who was her son’s primary caregiver, in contempt of court.
‘It’s clear to me that you don’t care about orders even if you agree to them, which you did,’ she explained.
‘Your attorney signed that order.’
Bredow said she takes ‘full responsibility’ for not following court orders, saying that vaccinations go against her beliefs and that she should have made her objections to them clearer sooner.
‘I’m a passionate mother who cares deeply about my children, their health, and their well-being,’ she said.
‘If my child was forced to be vaccinated, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.’
Bredow said she takes ‘full responsibility’ for not following court orders, saying that vaccinations go against her beliefs and that she should have made her objections to them clearer sooner. Her nine-year-old son, who is not named, is pictured
Bredow claims that she and her ex-husband initially decided to complete the shots over a period of time, but that she later decided to go against that decision without talking to him.
In the state of Michigan, schools require students to receive vaccinations before entering Kindergarten and up until 7th grade, while transfer students are required to be administered vaccines into their high school years.
According to Michigan.gov, the vaccines include: Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, Measles, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Hepatitis B, Meningococcal Conjugate and Varicella (Chicken Pox).
However, Bredow told WXYZ she was permitted to delay her son’s shots for personal, medical or religious reasons.
While the family had the option to wait, the child’s father showed concerned about their son’s well-being and took the matter to court when he lost power.
Bredow revealed she feel’s ‘angry’ and ‘backed into a corner’ with her ‘rights as a parent taken away’ suddenly.
The judge said the mother frequently makes decisions about how to raise their children without speaking with her ex-husband.
McDonald granted him temporary custody and ordered the son to be vaccinated while his mother is in jail.