Supreme Court will not block vaccine mandate in New York

Posted by Arian de Vogue | CNN

On Monday, the Supreme Court denied two emergency requests from medical professionals, doctors and nurses in New York City to block the state’s vaccination mandate.

Judges Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas disagreed.

The controversy arose when three nurses and a group called We the Patriots USA, Inc. contested the mandate, arguing that it allows exceptions for those who objected medically, but not for those with religious objections.

The current rule applies to workers in hospitals and nursing homes, home health agencies, adult centers, and hospices. Several doctors, who say they have cured many Covid patients, have filed separate requests with the courts.

So far, the judges have allowed the mandates of Indiana, Maine and New York states to advance, offering tolerance for the state’s efforts to tackle Covid-19 in the midst of the Delta option surge.

Gorsuch wrote that he would grant the request, noting that doctors and nurses “made every effort to help their patients” during the pandemic.

He said that two of the doctors are not “vaccine opponents who oppose all vaccines,” but that the sincerity of their religious beliefs should be respected. Gorsuch noted that most recently New York indicated that no religious exemptions would be accepted, and highlighted the fact that the state has indeed accepted those who object to this mandate in a non-religious manner.

“Even when viewed as anything other than signs of hostility, the actions of the state leave no doubt that the revised mandate specifically targeted the unorthodox religious beliefs and practices of the applicants,” Gorsuch said.

He said nearly every other state has “found they can meet their public health goals for COVID-19 without forcing religious opponents to take the vaccine.”

Some healthcare professionals have said they object to the vaccine due to its distant association with fetal cell lines obtained from abortions in the 1970s and 1980s. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith said last December in a memo endorsed by Pope Francis that getting shot was morally legal.

“It is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses for research and production,” the Vatican said in a memo. The nurses said they were “devout Christians” who “object to any benefit – no matter how far – from the abortion process.”

Gorsuch noted the fact that the Pope encouraged vaccinations. He asked a rhetorical question: “If so many other religious people are willing to get vaccinated, it is tempting to ask: what could be wrong with coercing those few who do not?”

In response to his question, Gorsuch said: “We need to know what costs are incurred when this Court is silent, since the majority infringes on the constitutional rights of unpopular and unorthodox people.”

New York Attorney General Laetitia James has called on the Supreme Court to reject the request, arguing that an emergency rule requiring the vaccination of certain healthcare workers is necessary to combat the spread of the virus, which could lead to a “vicious cycle of shortages and ill health.” patient care “.