Judge Blocks Vaccine Mandate For Health Workers In New York

Conservative News DailySeptember 15, 2021

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York on Tuesday morning temporarily blocked Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s order mandating health workers to get the vaccine against COVID.

A group of health care workers represented by the Thomas More Society sued the state arguing their Constitutional rights were violated when the state’s issued a vaccination mandate barring religious exemptions.

Judge David Hurd issued the order giving the Hochul administration “until Sept. 22 to respond to the lawsuit in federal court in Utica,” ABC News reported. “If the state opposes the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary court order blocking the vaccine mandate, a Sept. 28 oral hearing will occur.”

Now-resigned Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) on August 16 announced that all healthcare workers in the state of New York, including staff at hospitals and long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, adult care facilities, and other congregate care settings, are required to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

The Thomas More Society argued that the mandate “attempts to nullify protections for sincere religious beliefs granted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, even though days earlier the state of New York had afforded protection for religious beliefs in its prior health order.”

Attorney Christopher Ferrara, Thomas More Society Special Counsel, called the move “a brazen power grab by people who think they can get away with anything.”

“What New York is attempting to do is slam shut an escape hatch from an unconstitutional vaccine mandate,” Ferrara argued. “And they are doing this while, knowing that many people have sincere religious objections to vaccines that were tested, developed, or produced with cell lines derived from aborted children.”

“These plaintiffs are not – I repeat – not anti-vaxxers, as the fake news media calls them,” stressed Ferrara. “They are in fact in favor of voluntary vaccination with informed consent, but they oppose jack-booted coercion by the state to take a vaccine their religion forbids them to take. This is America, not Red China.”

“Without court intervention,” Ferrara warned before Judge Hurd’s order, “these health professionals face loss of occupation, professional status, and employability anywhere in the state of New York. All because of an abortion-connected vaccine, one that they cannot take in good conscience.”

In reaction to Judge Hurd’s decision, Hochul press secretary Hazel Crampton-Hays argued the mandate “is critical” to the “battle” against COVID-19.

“Governor Hochul is doing everything in her power to protect New Yorkers and combat the Delta variant by increasing vaccine rates across the State,” Crampton-Hays said. “Requiring vaccination of health care workers is critical to this battle.”

Notably, President Joe Biden formally announced to the American people in a speech last Thursday evening that all federal employees and employees of many private businesses must either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to mandatory weekly testing, pursuant to an emergency rule from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA).

“This is not about freedom or personal choice,” Biden admitted during the speech, after which he took zero questions from the press. “It’s about protecting yourself and those around you, the people you work with, the people you care about, the people you love. My job as president is to protect all Americans.”

“We’ve been patient but our patience is wearing thin and your refusal has cost all of us,” POTUS warned unvaccinated citizens.

As detailed by The Daily Wire, private businesses with at least 100 employees will be forced to require their employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 tests under a new Biden administration plan. Those businesses that do not comply will be facing massive fines per violation.

The U.S. Labor Department plans to issue an emergency temporary standard in a matter of weeks “implementing the new requirement, which will cover 80 million private-sector workers,” according to The Wall Street Journal. “Businesses that don’t comply can face fines of up to $14,000 per violation,” the report detailed.

The first polling data on Biden’s employer vaccine mandate were released Monday, and the findings bode incredibly poorly for POTUS. The Daily Wire reported:

When it comes to constitutional authority, only 29.7% of Americans think Biden is allowed to mandate employee vaccination as he outlined last week, while 58.6% say POTUS has no authority to do so. Here are the highlights, according to Convention of States Action:

58.6% of voters do not believe President Biden has the constitutional authority to force private businesses to require vaccine mandates for employees, while 29.7% believe he does have the authority, and 11.7% aren’t sure.
68.2% of Independent voters don’t believe President Biden has the constitutional authority to force private businesses to require vaccine mandates for employees, while 21% believe he does have the authority, and 10.9% aren’t sure.
83.5% of Republican voters don’t believe President Biden has the constitutional authority to force private businesses to require vaccine mandates for employees, while 10.7% believe he does have the authority, and 5.8% aren’t sure.
27% of Democrat voters don’t believe President Biden has the constitutional authority to force private businesses to require vaccine mandates for employees, while 54.9% believe he does have the authority, and 18.1% aren’t sure.

Moreover, a majority of Americans, 56.1%, support efforts from state governors to oppose Biden’s nationwide vaccine mandate on private businesses:

56.1% of American voters support the efforts of state governors to oppose Biden’s nationwide vaccine mandate on private businesses—46.3% strongly support, 9.8% support.
62.3% of Independent voters support the efforts of state governors to oppose Biden’s nationwide vaccine mandate on private businesses—45% strongly support, 17.3% support.
78.5% of Republican voters support the efforts of state governors to oppose Biden’s nationwide vaccine mandate on private businesses—70.7% strongly support, 7.8% support.
29.8% of Democrat voters support the efforts of state governors to oppose Biden’s nationwide vaccine mandate on private businesses—23.3% strongly support, 6.5% support.

“The numbers are clear, the American people passionately oppose Biden’s vaccine mandate, and will not tolerate a President elected by the people acting like a dictator or king. They know full well that this precedent will quickly lead to an end to our Republic and the beginning of an oppressive new tyranny,” said Mark Meckler, President of Convention of States Action. “Our citizens stand squarely with courageous, principled governors who know this isn’t about health, science, or compassion, it’s a naked political power grab.”

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