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The
justices rejected a request made on behalf of unnamed plaintiffs
identifying themselves as Maine healthcare workers who objected
to the vaccinations on religious grounds. The court in November
rejected an emergency request by the same plaintiffs seeking to
prevent Maine from enforcing the mandate against them. They are
represented by a Christian legal advocacy group.
The court previously rejected other challenges to vaccine
mandates including one focusing upon New York's lack of
religious exemptions for healthcare workers.
The justices in January blocked President Joe Biden's COVID-19
vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses - a policy
the conservative justices deemed an improper imposition on the
lives and health of many Americans - while endorsing a separate
federal vaccine requirement for healthcare workers at facilities
that accept money from the Medicare and Medicaid government
insurance programs.
When the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, rejected
the earlier request in the Maine case in November, three
conservative justices dissented.
Maine has required hospitals and other healthcare facilities to
ensure that workers are vaccinated against various diseases
since 1989.
The administration of Governor Janet Mills required all
healthcare workers in Maine to be fully vaccinated by the end of
October as a public health measure during the pandemic. Mills
said such workers perform a critical role in protecting the
health of Maine's residents and that every precaution needed to
be taken to protect against the spread of COVID-19.
That emergency rule has since been replaced by a permanent
regulation that requires vaccination for such workers, the state
said in court papers.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)
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