NY Sheds Amish Schools’ Vaccine Mandate Discrimination Claims

The Second Circuit on Monday declined to revive a lawsuit challenging New York’s vaccine mandate for schoolchildren, which a group of Amish parents and schools argue shows religious hostility.

Re-introducing religious exemptions for vaccine mandates would “cut directly against” the state’s interest in protecting public health, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit wrote in a per curiam opinion.

New York’s public health law, which requires all students to be vaccinated and doesn’t provide for religious exemptions, “is neutral on its face,” and it “does not target or affirmatively prohibit religious practices,” the ...