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A federal judge in Missouri blocked President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in 10 states yesterday: Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
From there, the situation escalated quickly:
Questioning the constitutionality of the mandate, U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp wrote, “The scale falls clearly in favor of healthcare facilities operating with some unvaccinated employees, staff, trainees, students, volunteers and contractors, rather than the swift, irremediable impact of requiring healthcare facilities to choose between two undesirable choices — providing substandard care or providing no healthcare at all.”
SEE ALSO: Vaccine Mandate Leaves Hospital Serving Waukesha Victims Short-Changed
Afterward, a federal judge in Louisiana issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against Biden's order.
Judge Terry A. Doughty in the U.S. District Court Western District of Louisiana ruled in favor of a request from Republican Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to block an emergency regulation issued Nov. 4 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that required vaccines for nearly every full-time employee, part-time employee, volunteer, and contractor working at a wide range of healthcare facilities receiving Medicaid or Medicaid funding.
SEE ALSO: Why Did the Flu Disappear? Hint: It Wasn't the Masks.
Doughty argued in his ruling that the Biden administration does not have the constitutional authority to go around Congress by issuing such a mandate.
“If the executive branch is allowed to usurp the power of the legislative branch to make laws, two of the three powers conferred by our Constitution would be in the same hands,” he wrote. “If human nature and history teach anything, it is that civil liberties face grave risks when governments proclaim indefinite states of emergency.
“During a pandemic such as this one, it is even more important to safeguard the separation of powers set forth in our Constitution to avoid erosion of our liberties,” he added.
Doughty acknowledged that this case will ultimately be decided by a higher court than his.
I have mixed feelings about this. The vaccines work, period. BUT I don’t support lawless mandates. STILL, I expect healthcare workers to take necessary precautions around their patients…