The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Monday afternoon against New York healthcare workers seeking religious exemptions to Wuhan coronavirus vaccine mandates in the state.
BREAKING: SCOTUS denies emergency request of NY health care workers seeking religious exemption from vax mandate. The doctors/nurses argued other exemptions are being granted, but not those based on religious beliefs. Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch dissented.
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) December 13, 2021
More J. Gorsuch: We allow the State to insist on the dismissal of thousands of medical workers—the very same individuals New York has depended on and praised for their service on the pandemic’s front lines over the last 21 months. (cont)
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) December 13, 2021
More J. Gorsuch: To add insult to injury, we allow the State to deny these individuals unemployment benefits too.
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) December 13, 2021
When former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo issued the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers earlier this year, religious exemptions were included. When Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul replaced Cuomo in August, she eliminated the exemption from the mandate.
"New York recently issued a regulation requiring healthcare workers to receive a COVID–19 vaccine. Those who cite medical reasons are exempt. But no comparable exemption exists for individuals whose sincere religious be- liefs prevent them from taking one of the currently available vaccines. It seems New York is one of just three States to have a scheme like this. And it seems originally even New York was headed in a different direction," Justice Neil Gorush wrote in the dissent.
"When it announced the mandate, the then-Governor promised a reli- gious exemption. Weeks later, the State backtracked. It offered no scientific evidence, or even a written explanation, for the decision. But a new Governor who assumed office around the same time spoke about it. The new Governor announced that the decision to eliminate the exemption was 'intentiona[l]' and justified because no 'organized religion' sought it and individuals who did were not 'listening to God and what God wants.' Now, thousands of New York healthcare workers face the loss of their jobs and eligibility for unemployment benefits," Gorsuch continued. "Twenty of them have filed suit arguing that the State’s conduct violates the First Amend- ment and asking us to enjoin the enforcement of the man- date against them until this Court can decide their petition for certiorari. Respectfully, I believe they deserve that relief."
In November a federal judge in Georgia issued a nationwide injunction against President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for federal healthcare workers and contractors.
?? NATIONWIDE INJUNCTION ??
— Mark Brnovich (@GeneralBrnovich) November 30, 2021
Great news - a federal judge just granted our coalition's request to STOP the Biden Administration's overreaching “job or jab” COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers.
We will continue to take action to protect Arizona's health care heroes. pic.twitter.com/t6Y7cODVsk