OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate is getting hammered in the courts.
As we previously reported, Joe Biden’s federal vaccine mandate was blocked nationwide.
Initially, U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp in Missouri blocked the vaccine mandate in 10 states. Then U.S. Judge Terry Doughty of Louisana issued a nationwide injunction after 13 more states filed a lawsuit.
Lawsuits filed on behalf of healthcare workers and others argue that Biden’s failure to allow for exemptions due to legitimate health reasons or religious reasons makes the mandate unsafe, unwise, and unconstitutional.
After the courts blocked the vaccine mandate for health care workers nationwide, Biden attempted to stop the temporary block.
A federal court denied the request from Biden’s Department of Justice.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said, “The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Department of Justice’s motion for stay pending appeal in our lawsuit against the vaccine mandate on healthcare workers, meaning our injunction will stay in place.”
Both U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp in Missouri as well as U.S. Judge Terry Doughty in Louisiana have issued similar decisions in blocking the mandate.
“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,” Judge Doughty said.
The vaccine mandate forces some Americans to get the injection in their arms without allowing exemptions for legitimate health reasons or religious reasons. If not, health care workers are faced with losing their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Complying with the order, a memo was released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that confirmed they are suspending the enforcement of Biden’s vaccine mandate.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) simply has no other choice as the federal court blocked the mandate from being implemented pending review.
The memo states, “Survey and Enforcement of the Vaccine Requirement for Health Care Staff in Medicare- and Medicaid-certified Providers and Suppliers Suspended While Court Ordered Injunctions are in Effect: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will not enforce the new rule regarding vaccination of health care workers or requirements for policies and procedures in certified Medicare/Medicaid providers and suppliers (including nursing facilities, hospitals, dialysis facilities and all other provider types covered by the rule) while there are court-ordered injunctions in place prohibiting enforcement of this provision.”
The memo explained, “On November 29 and November 30, 2021, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued preliminary injunctions against the implementation and enforcement of the Interim Final Rule against Medicare-and-Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers.”
“Between the two of them, these injunctions cover all states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Territories.”
In his ruling, Judge Doughty wrote, “If the separation of powers meant anything to the Constitutional framers, it meant that the three necessary ingredients to deprive a person of liberty or property – the power to make rules, to enforce them, and to judge their violations – could never fall into the same hands.”
Doughty continued, “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. If human nature and history teach anything, it is that civil liberties face grave risks when governments proclaim indefinite states of emergency.”
“Because the Plaintiff States have satisfied all four elements required for a preliminary injunction to issue, this Court has determined that a preliminary injunction should issue against the Government Defendants,” Doughty added. “This matter will ultimately be decided by a higher court than this one. However, it is important to preserve the status quo in this case. The liberty interests of the unvaccinated requires nothing less.”
Since the CMS Mandate was nationwide and “uniformity” needed to be maintained, Doughty said that a nationwide injunction was needed.
“Therefore, the scope of this injunction will be nationwide, except for the states of Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, since these ten states are already under a preliminary injunction order dated November 29, 2021, out of the Eastern District of Missouri,” Doughty said.
“This preliminary injunction shall remain in effect pending the final resolution of this case, or until further orders from this Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, or the United States Supreme Court.”
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry praised the ruling. “While our fight is far from over, I am pleased the Court granted preliminary relief against the President’s unconstitutional and immoral attack on not only our healthcare workers but also the access to healthcare services for our poor and elderly,” Landry said.
“I will see this case through to the end – fighting every step of the way to prevent the federal government from imposing medical tyranny on our citizens and turning last year’s healthcare heroes into this year’s unemployed.”
