Judge temporarily suspends NY vaccine mandate for health care workers who claim religious exemption

on august 2nd, all of our health and hospital's staff, all of our clinical workers for Department of Health. It's very clear and the Health commissioner explained the order he is issuing to put this into effect. Every single one of those employees has a choice get vaccinated the better choice or get tested weekly. And at any point you can decide, hey, I'm ready to get vaccinated, then you don't need to get tested weekly anymore. This is about keeping people safe and stopping the delta variant. This process entails showing proof of vaccination or a negative test each week. So beginning august 2nd proof of vaccination or a negative test will be requested from all of our clinic based staff. That means nurses, doctors, social workers, custodians and registrars. The simple fact is, if you're vaccinated virtually every activity is safer because of the delta variant. Increasingly, the choice is between infection or vaccination and that can mean the difference between life and death. This is the first step in fighting back. Everyone can do this now and everyone should do this now to save lives

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday temporarily suspending New York state from enforcing its vaccine mandate if health care workers claim a religious exemption.The order bars the New York State Department of Health from requiring employers to deny or revoke religious exemptions for the vaccine. The health department issued an order in August requiring all health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 27.Seventeen Catholic and Baptist medical professionals who say they oppose getting the vaccine for religious reasons sought to prevent the state from enforcing the mandate, according to a federal complaint filed in New York on Monday.The professionals — nine doctors, five nurses, a nuclear medicine technologist, a physician liaison and a rehabilitation therapist — wanted a judgment declaring the mandate "unconstitutional, unlawful, and unenforceable," according to the lawsuit."The Vaccine Mandate emerges in the context of an atmosphere of fear and irrationality in which the unvaccinated are threatened with being reduced to a caste of untouchables if they will not consent to being injected, even 'continuously,' with vaccines that violate their religious beliefs," the complaint said.They are seeking a temporary statewide restraining order against the mandate followed by a permanent injunction, according to the lawsuit. The judge set a Sept. 22 deadline for defendants to oppose the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, and he scheduled a hearing in the case for Sept. 28.The mandate, the lawsuit argues, overrides protections provided under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, New York State's Human Rights Law, the Supremacy Clause as well as the First and 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.The lawsuit names New York Attorney General Letitia James, Commissioner Howard Zucker of the State Department of Health and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as defendants in the complaint. CNN reached out to Hochul's office but was told it doesn't comment on pending litigation. CNN also reached out to Hochul's administration, the Department of Health and the attorney general's office for comment and was referred to the Department of Health.Debate surrounding vaccine mandates has picked up since President Joe Biden announced a new plan to tackle the pandemic last week, which includes vaccine requirements in some workplaces.Health experts and many officials have called vaccine mandates a necessary step to protect the population and slow the spread of the virus. But there has also been blowback from some state leaders, such as Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, who have called the announcement at the federal level an overreach and pledged to challenge it in court.Pope Francis declares vaccination 'the moral choice'The plaintiffs cited religious convictions that prevent them from being inoculated with vaccines that they said "were tested, developed or produced with fetal cells line derived from procured abortions."Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna used cell lines originating from fetal tissue to test their vaccines, but they are not used in vaccine manufacturing or production, whereas fetal cell lines were used in Johnson & Johnson's "development, confirmation and production," according to Dr. James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at Nebraska Medicine.Those cells are thousands of generations removed from the original fetal tissue, said Lawler.No major religious denomination has taken a stand opposing vaccination. Pope Francis declared it "the moral choice because it is about your life, but also the lives of others."Last month, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas said it would not issue letters of exemption on religious grounds, according to a communication obtained by CNN."For the past several months, our Holy Father Pope Francis has made it clear that the various forms of COVID vaccines are morally acceptable, urging Catholics across the globe to become vaccinated, not only for their own safety and well-being, but also out of concern for the weak and vulnerable in our midst," Bishop George Leo Thomas said.The Thomas More Society, a self-described pro-life group, provided the attorney for the 17 plaintiffs in this case.

NEW YORK —

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday temporarily suspending New York state from enforcing its vaccine mandate if health care workers claim a religious exemption.

The order bars the New York State Department of Health from requiring employers to deny or revoke religious exemptions for the vaccine. The health department issued an order in August requiring all health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 27.

Seventeen Catholic and Baptist medical professionals who say they oppose getting the vaccine for religious reasons sought to prevent the state from enforcing the mandate, according to a filed in New York on Monday.

The professionals — nine doctors, five nurses, a nuclear medicine technologist, a physician liaison and a rehabilitation therapist — wanted a judgment declaring the mandate "unconstitutional, unlawful, and unenforceable," according to the lawsuit.

"The Vaccine Mandate emerges in the context of an atmosphere of fear and irrationality in which the unvaccinated are threatened with being reduced to a caste of untouchables if they will not consent to being injected, even 'continuously,' with vaccines that violate their religious beliefs," the complaint said.

They are seeking a temporary statewide restraining order against the mandate followed by a permanent injunction, according to the lawsuit.

The judge set a Sept. 22 deadline for defendants to oppose the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, and he scheduled a hearing in the case for Sept. 28.

The mandate, the lawsuit argues, overrides protections provided under the , , the as well as the and

The lawsuit names New York Attorney General Letitia James, Commissioner Howard Zucker of the State Department of Health and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul as defendants in the complaint.

CNN reached out to Hochul's office but was told it doesn't comment on pending litigation. CNN also reached out to Hochul's administration, the Department of Health and the attorney general's office for comment and was referred to the Department of Health.

Debate surrounding vaccine mandates has picked up since President Joe Biden announced a new plan to tackle the pandemic last week, which includes vaccine requirements in some workplaces.

Health experts and many officials have called vaccine mandates a necessary step to protect the population and slow the spread of the virus. But there has also been blowback from some state leaders, such as Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, who have called the announcement at the federal level an overreach and pledged to challenge it in court.

Pope Francis declares vaccination 'the moral choice'

The plaintiffs cited religious convictions that prevent them from being inoculated with vaccines that they said "were tested, developed or produced with fetal cells line derived from procured abortions."

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna used cell lines originating from fetal tissue to test their vaccines, but they are not used in vaccine manufacturing or production, whereas fetal cell lines were used in Johnson & Johnson's "development, confirmation and production," according to Dr. James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at Nebraska Medicine.

Those cells are thousands of generations removed from the original fetal tissue, said Lawler.

No major religious denomination has taken a stand opposing vaccination. Pope Francis declared it "the moral choice because it is about your life, but also the lives of others."

Last month, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas said it would not issue letters of exemption on religious grounds, according to a communication obtained by CNN.

"For the past several months, our Holy Father Pope Francis has made it clear that the various forms of COVID vaccines are morally acceptable, urging Catholics across the globe to become vaccinated, not only for their own safety and well-being, but also out of concern for the weak and vulnerable in our midst," Bishop George Leo Thomas said.

The a self-described pro-life group, provided the attorney for the 17 plaintiffs in this case.

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