AFN reported on Tuesday morning that a federal judge in St. Louis had blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a COVID injection mandate on health care workers in ten states. Health care workers in 14 other states got similar news late Tuesday when another federal district ruled in favor of a request for a preliminary injunction against a rule requiring the COVID shot on nearly every full-time employee, part-time employee, volunteer, and contractor working at a wide range of healthcare facilities receiving Medicaid or Medicaid funding.
In his decision, District Judge Terry Doughty (Western District of Louisiana) wrote the Biden administration doesn't have the authority to bypass Congress in 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 hands0. 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."
In granting the injunction, Judge Doughty has issued a nationwide stop to the administration's mandate.
On November 15, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry led a 14-state coalition filing suit against the Biden administration and requesting a preliminary injunction. Landry contends that Doughty's decision indicates Louisiana is likely to succeed on the merits of the case, and describes the ruling as "yet another victory for the medical freedom of Americans."
But the district court's ruling, Landry cautions, isn't the end of the fight against what he describes as President Biden's "unconstitutional and immoral attack" on health care workers and access to health care services for the poor and elderly.
"I will [fight] 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," the Louisiana AG concludes.
Joining Louisiana in the lawsuit were Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia.
The emergency regulation issued in early November by Biden and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would have required staff at providers that participate in the programs to receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by December 6 and be fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022.
