The COVID vaccine mandate imposed by the White House is generating an avalanche of requests for exemptions in the United States, and an intense legal battle is shaping up across the country.
In Los Angeles, nearly 3,000 Police Department employees are arguing religious objections that would prevent them from being inoculated with the mandatory vaccine; a similar situation is occurring in Washington state, Newsmax reported on Sept. 15.
In Washington state, more than 3,800 state workers have already applied for exemptions based on their beliefs. Only 737 have been approved, and officials have threatened applicants with the termination of employment contracts.
A more drastic measure was taken by United Airlines, which after announcing to its 67,000 employees the granting of religious exemptions to receive the vaccine, then told those who got them that they will not receive pay until “the pandemic recedes significantly.”
On the other hand, one Arkansas hospital is processing numerous such applications that are overwhelming its administrative capacity.
In this regard, the Department of Labor has said that a waiver can be denied if it causes an undue burden on the employer.
However, the exemptions are being legally enforced. According to Bloomberg, State Court Judge Laurence L. Love temporarily barred the New York City health department from requiring education workers to be vaccinated.
The plaintiffs contended that the state health department’s vaccination order violates their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.
Likewise, those against argue that vaccination is a personal decision between the individual and his doctor and that the government should not interfere in a private medical matter, the same argument with which abortion was legalized in 1973 under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
A few hours earlier, another federal judge had also temporarily blocked New York state officials from requiring the COVID vaccine for health care workers with religious objections to it.
For their part, unions representing teachers sued the city on Sept. 9, seeking to prevent the vaccination mandate, which was to take effect Sept. 27, from going into effect.
Against this congested legal backdrop, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced in a Sept. 14 tweet that the state was suing the Biden administration over the imposition of the mandatory vaccine.
Brnovich said it was an “egregious federal overreach” and an “assault on our sovereignty.”
He added: “Today, we have filed the first lawsuit in the nation against the unconstitutional mandates. Arizona will not tolerate this assault on our sovereignty.”
“Under our Constitution, the President is not a king who can exercise this sort of unbridled power unilaterally. And even George III wouldn’t have dreamed that he could enact such sweeping policies by royal decree alone,” said Brnovich.
For its part, the Republican National Committee (RNC) also reported its intention to sue the Biden administration over the unconstitutional mandate earlier this month.