{"id":2003120,"date":"2023-08-16T21:53:59","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T01:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maine-health-care-workers-take-vax-mandate-to-us-supreme-court\/"},"modified":"2023-08-16T22:00:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T02:00:25","slug":"maine-health-care-workers-take-vax-mandate-to-us-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maine-health-care-workers-take-vax-mandate-to-us-supreme-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Maine healthcare workers challenge vaccine mandate in Supreme Court."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmaine-health-care-workers-take-vax-mandate-to-us-supreme-court%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2003120&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>The hardline \u2064COVID-19 vaccination policies of Maine\u2019s Democrat governor, Janet Mills, the state health care bureaucracy, and four major hospital systems, are being challenged in the United States Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>The cause\u200b of action \u200carose on August 12, 2021, when Ms. Mills announced a vaccination mandate and threatened to yank the licenses\u200d and fine \u2062any \u200demployer of health care \u200dworkers who did \u200dnot enforce it.<\/p>\n<p>Effective September\u200b 1, 2021,\u200b the new mandate eliminated all exemptions \u2063based on religious grounds.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border border-[#D3D3D3] px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/health-care-workers-win-revival-of-lawsuit-against-maine-covid-vaccine-mandate-5295654\">Health Care Workers Win Revival of Lawsuit Against \u200bMaine COVID Vaccine \u200dMandate<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-[14px] leading-[18px] text-[#737373]\">5\/27\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/health-care-workers-win-revival-of-lawsuit-against-maine-covid-vaccine-mandate-5295654\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/maine-becomes-latest-us-state-to-end-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-for-health-care-workers-5395779\">Maine Becomes Latest\u200d US\u2063 State to End\u200b COVID-19 Vaccine \u200bMandates for Health Care Workers<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-[14px] leading-[18px] text-[#737373]\">7\/13\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/maine-becomes-latest-us-state-to-end-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-for-health-care-workers-5395779\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The vaccination requirement forced the state\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/america-first-vaccines-rolling-out-of-michigan-plant-headed-directly-for-american-hospitals\/\" title=\"America First: Vaccines Rolling Out of Michigan Plant, Headed Directly for American Hospitals\">health care workers<\/a> whose religious convictions would not permit them to take the shot, to either\u200b be vaccinated or be \u2063fired.<\/p>\n<p>According to a\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/mainepolicy.org\/gov-mills-mandate-pushed-10-of-healthcare-workers-out-of-the-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> \u200c by the Maine Policy\u2062 Institute, nearly \u200dten percent of Maine\u2019s health care workers refused the COVID-19 vaccine and\u2064 were terminated. The action further aggravated the state\u2019s pre-pandemic nursing shortage.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Valued Employees or Expendables?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Mat Staver, founder \u2064of Liberty Counsel,\u200d a non-profit\u2062 legal foundation representing seven discharged health care professionals, told The Epoch Times, \u201cNot only\u2064 did their employers kick them to the curb, \u200bbut they dismissed them for insubordination, \u200bthereby ensuring the\u2063 nurses could not draw unemployment compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Ms. Mills\u2019 mandate cast\u200c a broad net \u2064by defining\u200c \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nurse-contracts-covid-a-week-after-getting-vaccine-and-hes-not-the-only-one\/\" title=\"Nurse Contracts Covid A Week After Getting Vaccine. And He\u2019s Not The Only One\">health care worker<\/a>\u201d as \u201cany individual employed by a hospital, multi-level health care facility, home health \u2063agency, nursing facility, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/racine-county-sheriff-absentee-ballot-voting-election-statute-not-just-broken-but-shattered-by-wisconsin-elections-commission\/\" title=\"Racine County Sheriff: Absentee Ballot Voting Election Statute 'Not Just Broken, But Shattered' by Wisconsin Elections Commission\">residential care facility<\/a>, and intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities\u2026those employed by emergency medical service organizations or dental practices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Staver said that because of the broad mandate, the nurses found it impossible to get \u200banother job in the health care\u2063 profession within the state of Maine.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"aligncenter\"><figcaption>Maine\u200d Gov. Janet Mills in\u2064 2019. (Rebecca Hammel\/U.S. Senate\/Public Domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The chief plaintiff in the case, Alicia Lowe, a\u200c head operating room nurse\u2064 for 20 years, is out \u201cworking construction to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/under-trump-americans-have-seen-their-best-wage-growth-in-40-years\/\" title=\"Under Trump, Americans Have Seen Their Best Wage Growth In 40 Years\">make ends meet<\/a>,\u201d \u2062said Mr. Staver. \u201cMany people are still suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Fighting for\u200c Their Rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In an effort to\u2062 defend their constitutional rights and to keep their jobs, Ms. Lowe and a group of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maine-health-care-workers-take-vax-mandate-to-us-supreme-court\/\" title=\"Maine healthcare workers challenge vaccine mandate in Supreme Court.\">fired health care workers initially filed suit<\/a> in U.S. District Court.<\/p>\n<p>After losing their case \u2063in the \u2064district court,\u2063 Ms. Lowe and her co-plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (First\u200d Circuit),\u200b where they won on their free exercise \u200cof \u2063religion argument but\u200b lost on\u200c their contention that any\u2063 state law or regulation must comply with the \u201cdue hardship and reasonable accommodation\u201d employment provisions \u2062of Title\u200b VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.<\/p>\n<p>According to Mr. Staver, seven other federal \u200ccircuit \u200dcourts have\u200b handed down decisions contrary to the First\u2064 Circuit\u2019s ruling on Title VII compliance.<\/p>\n<p>On August 15, 2023, Liberty\u2064 Counsel announced it \u200dhad filed a\u200b writ certiorari\u2014a legal process by which the U.S. Supreme \u2062Court is asked to review the actions of\u200b lower courts or government agencies.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A Familiar Tactic<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The case,\u2063 Alicia Lowe et al. v. \u2062Janet Mills et al.,\u2062 is still moving forward despite a recent proposal by the Maine\u200d Department of Health\u200d and\u2063 Human Services\u2062 (DHHS) to remove the COVID-19 vaccination mandate from the \u200bstate\u2019s health care workers.<\/p>\n<p>If, after a period\u200d of public comment, the proposal is approved, it would take effect at the end of this year.<\/p>\n<p>Coming shortly\u200c after the appeals court ruled in the nurses\u2019\u200b favor and reversed the \u2064district court\u2019s decision on their free exercise of religion claim, the creation and timing of the DHHS proposal came as no surprise\u2062 to Mr. Staver.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a familiar tactic by\u2062 Maine Democrats led by \u2062Governor Mills. They have done\u200b this kind of thing before. \u2018Nothing\u200c to \u200bsee \u200dhere. No \u2063worries. We\u2019re going to rescind the mandate.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI \u200dthink she saw the 3-0 reversal by \u2063the court of appeals and does \u2064not want to defend the case\u2063 and open the\u200c state up to discovery. \u200bBut guess what? With our filing, the state government is now open to discovery,\u201d\u2064 Mr. Staver\u200b said.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Governor\u2019s Rationale<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Ms. Mills has not issued a formal statement about the appeal to the U.S.\u2063 Supreme Court by Liberty Counsel.<\/p>\n<p>However, after a previous round of the many legal challenges \u200dto \u2063her vaccination mandate, Ms.\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/governor\/mills\/news\/governor-mills-attorney-general-frey-applaud-first-circuit-court-appeals-decision-maines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mills \u2063stated<\/a>, \u201cVaccinations \u200care the best tool \u2062we \u2062have to protect \u200cthe lives and livelihoods \u200cof Maine\u200c people\u200c and to curb this pandemic\u2026Anyone who is placed in the\u200c care of a health care worker\u200d has the right \u200dto expect, as do their families, that they will receive high-quality,\u2064 safe care from fully vaccinated staff.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis rule protects health care workers, \u200dtheir patients, and our health care\u2064 capacity in the\u200c face \u200bof this deadly virus.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>An Act\u200c of Love<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cAs Pope Francis\u2063 said, getting vaccinated is an \u2018act \u2064of \u2064love,\u2019\u201d said Ms. Mills.<\/p>\n<p>In a press\u200d release announcing Liberty Counsel\u2019s\u200b Supreme Court appeal, Mr.\u2062 Staver said, \u201cGovernor Janet Mills \u200cand health officials have acted \u200das if Maine is exempt from \u2064federal law by denying these health care workers\u2019 religious exemptions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince there is now a conflict in the courts regarding Title VII anti-discrimination protections, we are\u2064 asking the U.S. \u200dSupreme \u200bCourt to review this\u200d case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFederal\u2064 law and the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution ca<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maine&#8217;s Democrat governor, Janet Mills, along with the state health care bureaucracy and four major hospital systems, face a legal challenge in the US Supreme Court over their strict COVID-19 vaccination policies. The dispute began on August 12, 2021, when Ms. Mills issued a vaccine mandate, threatening to revoke licenses and impose fines on non-compliant employers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":369,"featured_media":2003121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2003120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/369"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2003120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2003120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2003120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2003120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}