The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the mandate, enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in early November but the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the court’s stay on Dec. 17. OSHA said over the weekend that businesses now have until Jan. 10 to start making plans to enforce the rule.
Now, the Supreme Court will hear several consolidated lawsuits against the rule, which targets businesses with 100 or more employees and requires them to either have their workers get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing while wearing masks on-site.
“The Sixth Circuit panel’s decision to end the stay is outrageous and endangers the freedom of all Americans,” Kelly Shackelford, president, CEO, and chief counsel at First Liberty Institute, said in a statement announcing the filing. First Liberty is representing the three Christian ministries, including American Family Association, Answers in Genesis, and the Daystar Television Network.
Their legal challenge was filed with the nation’s high court on Saturday.
Any mandate that coerces “organizations to compel their employees to be vaccinated against their will is one that would require it to violate their employees’ sacred rights of belief and conscience,” Shackelford continued.
Last week, the Supreme Court refused to block a New York mandate that requires COVID-19 vaccines for all health care workers. But Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch wrote they would have supported temporarily halting its enforcement.
“Sometimes dissenting religious beliefs can seem strange and bewildering. In times of crisis, this puzzlement can evolve into fear and anger,” Gorsuch wrote in his dissent, published last week.
“One can only hope today’s ruling will not be the final chapter in this grim story,” Gorsuch continued. “Cases like this one may serve as cautionary tales for those who follow.”… (Excerpts from the Epoch Times)
