As the intensity of the assault on civil liberties under the COVID-19 narrative continues unabated, so does the animating fight for freedom. And while NHFA and NHFC are focused on helping states use the legislative process to protect all of their citizens, individual and group lawsuits are another important arrow in the quiver of the health freedom community. Winning a lawsuit directly helps the plaintiffs but also helps protect health freedom for all; and even if a case loses, sometimes the very act of fighting back educates, motivates, and activates our movement in positive ways. In a new temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction two federal courts have ordered that Michigan student athletes and New York Health Care Workers can continue to work and participate in sports without a COVID vaccine:

Michigan Athletes Protected Against Vaccine Mandates

• • On August 31, the federal court in Michigan issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in favor of four college athletes in a case against Western Michigan University (WMU).  The university had instituted a requirement that student athletes get vaccinated for COVID-19.  The athletes requested the university to give them an exemption based on the sincerely-held religious beliefs but were denied. They then went to court requesting a TRO, claiming that the school’s denial of their religious exemptions violated the US Constitution. A TRO is an emergency measure until all parties can appear in court.  The court’s temporary order allowed the athletes to continue playing sports without a COVID-19 vaccine.

  • On September 9, Judge Paul L. Maloney, followed up on the TRO by a hearing with all parties and the judge then granted a preliminary injunction to the athletes allowing the athletes to continue to compete.  A preliminary injunction follows a TRO and means that the athletes can play until there is a full trial. Generally, courts don’t issue TROs or preliminary injunctions unless the plaintiffs show a strong likelihood of winning their case.

  • According to news reports, the judge did not say when his written preliminary injunction order would be formally issued, but he added that the TRO remains in effect until he pens his opinion and activates the preliminary injunction.

  • In his TRO order, the judge noted that since the school’s overall policy includes a religious belief exemption, the policy itself would not be able to be struck down if there was some rational basis for the policy. But if students were denied an exemption under the policy a higher legal standard of review would be required. Judge Maloney cited prior authorities for that higher standard that any law that discriminates against a religious practice is invalid unless it is both, “justified by a compelling interest and is narrowly tailored to advance that interest.” This means the court must apply the higher strict scrutiny for the athletes’ case. Maloney continued, “WMU’s vaccination requirement for student athletes is not justified by a compelling interest and is not narrowly tailored.”

New York Health Care Workers Protected Against Vaccine Mandates

• • On August 26, the New York state Department of Health (DOH) mandated that all health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19, with a first dose required by September 27. This DOH regulation excludes any religious exemption. On September 13, 17 medical professionals, one Baptist and 16 Catholics, filed a lawsuit against the governor, the DOH Commissioner, and the state attorney general. The complaint alleges that then-Governor Cuomo had instituted an, “eighteen-month-long medical dictatorship” in response to the pandemic. The health care workers noted in their formal complaint that the DOH rule contains a medical exemption but no religious exemption. They filed the case pseudonymously, since the unvaccinated are, “vilified by the…media as pariahs who must be excluded from society until they are vaccinated against their will.” They also noted that all three COVID-19 vaccines in use in the US had utilized fetal cell lines that came from abortions in their development and that based on this fact, they have a strong religious conviction that use of these products is immoral.

  • On September 14, Judge David N. Hurd of the US District Court in Utica, New York issued a TRO on behalf of the medical professionals who hold, “sincere religious beliefs [which] compel them to refuse the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently available.” The court ordered that 1) the vaccine mandate is suspended to the extent the DOH is barred from forcing employers to deny or revoke religious exemptions, 2) DOH is barred from interfering with religious exemptions going forward or with prior exemptions, and 3) DOH is barred from taking any action against plaintiffs for seeking or having a religious exemption. Judge Hurd noted that “as a practical matter” his TRO becomes effective on the September 27 vaccine deadline. The court requested a response from the New York State Department of Health defendants by September 22, and then set an in-person oral argument hearing for September 28 to consider whether the TRO should become a preliminary restraining order.

NHFA understands there is an extreme need for attorneys to represent people right now regarding these constitutional and health related issues.  To address this need the Righttorefuse.org website’s Resource Center lists legal organizations taking cases forward to protect individual health rights.  Click Here to access the list of resources.  Thanks for becoming active in the health freedom movement.