Supreme Court Refuses To Halt NY State Healthcare Worker Vaccine Mandate Lacking Religious Exemption

Legal Insurrection:

Gorsuch dissent: “Those who cite medical reasons are exempt. But no comparable exemption exists for individuals whose sincere religious beliefs 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.”

It’s getting harder and harder to expect that the Supreme Court will protect religious liberty against relentless attack from Democrats. Today brings another example, with SCOTUS declining to issue a stay of a NY vaccine mandate for healthcare workers that lacks a religious exemption. The exemption was recently removed.

The case is Dr. A. v. Kathy Hochul (who replaced Andrew Cuomo when he resigned). Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch would have granted the application. That’s it. No Kavanaugh. No Barrett. And of course, No Roberts. Needless to say, the “liberal” block didn’t break ranks, they almost never do.

Here are excerpts from the Dissent authored by Gorsuch and joined by Alito. First, the background on the case:

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 beliefs 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. When it announced the mandate, the then-Governor promised a religious 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. Twenty of them have filed suit arguing that the State’s conduct violates the First Amendment and asking us to enjoin the enforcement of the mandate against them until this Court can decide their petition for certiorari.

Respectfully, I believe they deserve that relief.

The plaintiffs asserted good faith religious belief exemptions:

These applicants are not “‘anti-vaxxers’” who object to all vaccines. Complaint in No. 21–CV–01009 (NDNY), ¶ 37(g). Instead, the applicants explain, they cannot receive a COVID–19 vaccine because their religion teaches them to oppose abortion in any form, and because each of the currently available vaccines has depended upon abortion-derived fetal cell lines in its production or testing. The applicants acknowledge that many other religious believers feel differently about these matters than they do. But no one questions the sincerity of their religious beliefs….

New Gov. Kathy Hochul, who seems like a really terrible person, then intentionally removed the religious exemption. Gorsuch documented numerous statemend by Hochul expressing disbelief that the doctors were really good Catholics in keeping with the Pope’s edicts on vaccines, and then: MORE