A family court in Kyushu stripped a woman of her parental rights after she refused a vaccination for her baby because a child welfare center was trying to arrange foster care for the abandoned infant, sources said Tuesday.
The court issued the decision in March, saying the mother's denial to have the infant vaccinated was not on medical grounds or based on religious beliefs but was based on "an emotional response to staff of the child welfare center," according to the sources.
The mother left the baby in front of their home last summer, and after being alerted, the welfare center judged the abandonment to be a case of neglect and took temporary custody of the child, the sources said.