Pediatricians asks judge to block Utah law on K-12 mask mandates

Salt Lake City, Utah — A group of pediatricians is asking a judge to block a Utah law prohibiting schools from issuing K-12 mask mandates. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges the judge to grant a restraining order that halts the law from being enforced.

“Universal mask policies substantially reduce the risk of death and serious illness among Utah’s school-age population and their families, and in particular among children with medical conditions such as Plaintiffs,” the group said in its amicus filing. “HB 1007 puts Plaintiffs and all other parents to an untenable choice: either send children to schools where they have a high risk of contracting COVID-19 or keep them home from school with the attendant harm to their social, emotional, and educational development.”

HB1007 specifically prohibits schools from issuing mask mandates. Under another law, a local health department can issue a masking order — but a county council or county commission can vote to override it. The Salt Lake County Council overturned a K-6 order issued by the Salt Lake County Health Department. The Utah Attorney General’s Office and Salt Lake County have asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit and reject the restraining order request.

The group said it supported universal masking policies in schools. The AAP argues in its filing that COVID-19 is more harmful to children with special needs who also benefit more from an in-person education.

“Mask-wearing is not linked to emotional or psychological harm, particularly when caregivers promote positive associations around mask-wearing. While children can develop secondary anxieties about wearing a mask, this is no different from the possibility of developing secondary anxieties about eating, attending school, or any other activity,” the group said. “The risk of developing secondary anxiety, disordered behavior, or refusal to attend school-related to masking may be especially high when parents or community members perpetuate false claims that masks are harmful. But there is nothing intrinsic about mask-wearing that makes it particularly harmful, whether physically, socially, or emotionally.”

A judge in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court has yet to schedule a hearing on the parents and the Concerned Coalition of Utah’s request for a restraining order blocking the laws from being enforced.