WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court refused Monday to halt a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for health care workers in New York that does not offer an exemption for religious reasons.
The court acted on emergency appeals filed by doctors, nurses and other medical workers who say they are being forced to choose between their jobs and religious beliefs.
As is typical in such appeals, the court did not explain its order, although it has similarly refused to get in the way of vaccine mandates elsewhere.
Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. “Now, thousands of New York healthcare workers face the loss of their jobs and eligibility for unemployment benefits,” Gorsuch wrote in a 14-page opinion that Alito joined.
New York is one of just three states, along with Maine and Rhode Island, that do not accommodate health care workers who object to the vaccine on religious grounds.
The court had previously turned away health care workers in Maine, who filed a similar challenge, with the same three justices in dissent.
As of Oct. 19, roughly 90% of health care workers were fully vaccinated and most of the rest had received one of two doses, the state told the high court. Fewer than 2% of nursing home, adult care facility and hospital workers had sought a religious exemption, the state said.
In his dissent, Gorsuch drew a link between the health care workers and the World War II-era Jehovah’s Witnesses schoolchildren who refused on religious grounds to stand and salute the American flag for the Pledge of Allegiance.
The court at first refused to intervene when a public school in Pennsylvania expelled the children. But three years later, the justices overruled the earlier case in a landmark decision that declared schools couldn’t force students to salute the flag or recite the pledge.
“Today, our Nation faces not a world war but a pandemic. Like wars, though, pandemics often produce demanding new social rules aimed at protecting collective interests — and with those rules can come fear and anger at individuals unable to conform for religious reasons,” Gorsuch wrote.
© 2021 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Well when the ungodly rule the rules are ungodly!
PITY god doesn’t SMITE THE hell out of these hethan cowards… WITH BOLTS from heaven!
They are not only being forced to choose between their jobs and religious beliefs, but also their medical autonomy both of which are rooted in the constitution and in the case of medical autonomy also supported by law such as Nurmberg. It is one thing when the Biden administration ignores the constitution since we know they are a bunch of miserable lawless socialist rats who do this regularly but when the SCOTUS upholds their lawlessness that is another stoey and an indication of where we are heading as a country. This is all the more reason for individual states to take action and follow the lead of Montana for example who has made it illegal to have vaccine mandates as a condition of employment because as everyone knows it is blatently discriminatory to do. It is very sad and telling when even the supreme court fails to uphold our rights under the law…
MORE AND MORE i am thinking, the ENTIRE Scotus is rotten, and needs to just get SCORCHED INTO dust… NONE of those cowards, seems worthy of even being called, a ‘moderate’, let alone a conservative OR CONSTITUTIONALIST!
“The Supreme Court refused Monday to halt a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for health care workers in New York that does not offer an exemption for religious reasons.”…hope the same philosophy applies to letting guys like Buttigieg and his husband adopt your innocent children destined to soon lose their innocence. I hope that same kind of exemption applies to Christian healthcare workers forced to assist in abortions and dispensing of substances that cause the baby to soon be aborted and lose his life. Now if we can only find a religion that grants it’s members exemption from paying taxes based on religious reasons,,,,OOOps, we already have one, called the religion of Socialism., whose equal fair share of taxed income gets paid by good Christians and others taught to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s without trying to become a Caesar destined for a party meeting on the ides of March.
“The court at first refused to intervene when a public school in Pennsylvania expelled the children. But three years later,,reversed”,,,,,or in the case of Abortion, 50 years later and millions of potential children lost.
As if Liberals aren’t contentious enough—we get RINOS. Now, to add to the frustration—we get Conservative Justices.
“Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. “Now, thousands of New York healthcare workers face the loss of their jobs and eligibility for unemployment benefits,” Gorsuch wrote in a 14-page opinion that Alito joined.” Why can’t they all see that?
Trump seemed to have been HOODWINKED< in that gorsuch, Kavenaugh and Barret, were 'true conservatives'. THAT IS THE ONLY WAY i can explain their constant stabbing US IN THE back.
These guys have become truly evil too. Did you see what Sotomayor said? I would rather KILL BABIES then see the SCOTUS get a black eye for doing the right thing. Let’s ask her. Hey Judge Sotomayor, if 62 million dead babies at the feet of thee SCOTUS isn’t enough, how many more do you want?
Unfortunately as DEMONIC as she is, NO AMOUNT is ever enough to her.
PITY HER MOTHER didn’t use that abortion option, to NOT HAVE Sonjya..