Supreme Court Declines To Block New York Health Worker Vaccine Mandate

The United States Supreme Court refused to block a mandate in New York that requires healthcare workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The mandate was put into effect in August but allows people to opt out for medical reasons. The requirement initially had exemptions for religious reasons, but that option was eliminated.

A group of doctors and nurses sued over the mandate because it did not allow religious exemptions. They argued that the vaccines violate their religious beliefs because they were created using fetal cell lines developed from abortions in the 1970s and 1980s.

Three justices, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch, dissented on the decision to keep the mandate in place.

“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” while the court considers a formal appeal, Gorsuch wrote. “Respectfully, I believe they deserve that relief.”

The Supreme Court has denied multiple requests to strike down vaccine mandates implemented at the state and local levels during the pandemic. Those cases involved lawsuits filed by health care workers in Maine and Massachusetts, students at Indiana University, and teachers in New York.