In an order that drew a sharply worded dissent by Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to block New York’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement, which allows exemptions for medical but not religious reasons.

Gorsuch said the ruling violates the plaintiffs’ religious liberty rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.

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“The Free Exercise Clause protects not only the right to hold unpopular religious beliefs inwardly and secretly. It protects the right to live out those beliefs publicly in ‘the performance of (or abstention from) physical acts,’” Gorsuch wrote in his 14-page dissent…

While those who cite medical reasons are exempt from the mandate, “no comparable exemption exists for individuals whose sincere religious beliefs prevent them from taking one of the currently available vaccines,” Gorsuch noted. . . .

“Six weeks ago, this Court refused relief in a case involving Maine’s healthcare workers,” Gorsuch wrote. “Today, the Court repeats the mistake by turning away New York’s doctors and nurses.”

While those who cite medical reasons are exempt from the mandate, “no comparable exemption exists for individuals whose sincere religious beliefs prevent them from taking one of the currently available vaccines,” Gorsuch noted.

New York Gov. Kathy C. Hochul issued the mandate on Aug. 26 and the requirement took effect approximately a month later. The state estimates that about 4 percent of its health care workforce — some 37,000 workers — have left their jobs because of the requirement, the New York Times reported. In response, Hochul has called on the National Guard to help out in  short-staffed nursing homes.

Health care workers challenging the mandate in court on religious grounds had until Nov. 22 to get vaccinated, go on leave, or resign, the Times reported.

In his dissent, Gorsuch repeatedly criticized how Hochul, who identifies as Catholic, has handled the mandate.

“The new Governor announced that the decision to eliminate the exemption was ‘intentiona[l]’ and justified because no ‘organized religion’ sought it and individuals who did were not ‘listening to God and what God wants,’” he wrote. “Now, thousands of New York healthcare workers face the loss of their jobs and eligibility for unemployment benefits.”

Gorsuch shared the stories of two Catholic doctors who objected to the mandate.

“These applicants are not ‘anti-vaxxers’ who object to all vaccines,” Gorsuch urged. “Instead, the applicants explain, they cannot receive a COVID–19 vaccine because their religion teaches them to oppose abortion in any form, and because each of the currently available vaccines has depended upon abortion-derived fetal cell lines in its production or testing.”

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(Excerpt from Life News. Photo Credit: Getty Images)