Parents, physicians sue over Oklahoma mask mandate ban

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Parents of Oklahoma schoolchildren and the Oklahoma State Medical Association are suing to overturn a state law banning mask requirements in public schools.

The lawsuit filed on Thursday alleges that the law violates a child’s rights to a safe education, due process, and equal protection in addition to unconstitutionally creating a special law and encompassing more than one subject.

Critics contend that schools should, at minimum, have the right to set their own requirements even if the government won’t set a mandate at the state level. Some have said that this is especially important, given that the coronavirus vaccines have not been approved for children under 12 and the delta variant is apparently spreading more commonly among children than prior coronavirus variants.

The lawsuit comes as schools across the state have begun reopening amid a surge in virus cases and hospitalizations, likely a result of the highly contagious delta variant and low virus vaccination rates in Oklahoma.