New York has filed an appeal over the COVID vaccine mandate that ruled on religious exemptions for healthcare workers in the state.
A recent federal court decision permitted healthcare workers in New York to apply for religious exemptions from its coronavirus vaccine mandate.
“I applaud the Attorney General’s challenge of the lower court’s decision on the religious exemption to the vaccine requirement,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul in a statement Friday.
“I spoke with the Attorney General this morning, and we had a productive conversation about the importance of protecting this requirement. New York will continue to lead the nation in taking bold action on vaccines, which are our best weapon in defeating this virus.”
The appeal was filed by Hochul, James, and outgoing State Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker in the US Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit on Tuesday, the New York Post reported. It came after Utica federal judge David Hurd granted a preliminary injunction against the state’s requirement for healthcare workers wanting religious exemptions.
Seventeen anonymous healthcare workers—majority Catholic—took legal action, claiming that requiring to get the vaccine or face termination went against their constitutional rights. The group was successful in their argument. The judge ruled in their favor, claiming that the September 27 mandate “conflicts with longstanding federal protections for religious beliefs and that they and others will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief.”
The plaintiffs’ main argument was that the coronavirus vaccines “employ fetal cell lines derived from procured abortion in testing, development or production,” which goes against their religious beliefs.
