Governor Janet Mills Sued over Vaccine Mandate
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - Governor Janet Mills is facing a lawsuit in federal court. Recently a lawsuit was filed against the Governor due to the state’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. Newssource 8 ‘s Corey Bouchard has the story.
MAT STAVER is the Founder and Chairman for Liberty Counsel, the group that is suing the Governor " We’ve had some of these health care hospitals that have said that the federal law doesn’t even apply in Maine. I mean, this is absolutely unbelievable.”
The case also includes The Maine CDC, and the Department of Health and Human Services The lawsuit is aimed at overturning the August 12th mandate that all healthcare workers need to be fully vaccinated by October 1st.
Staver " Consequently, we’ve also filed against five of the state’s largest hospital institutions, because following Janet Mills order, they have now denied our plaintiffs, even the opportunity to consider the religious exemption citing to this Governor’s edict that says religious exemptions cannot even be considered.”
Staver says the main focus of this case revolves around the 2019 Maine Law outlawing religious exemptions for vaccines, which the group says violates several federal laws.
Staver “whether you’re in private or public employment, you have the protection of title seven, it’s a federal law passed in 1965. And that particular law protects individuals from discrimination on the basis of religion, and it provides protection for anyone who has a sincerely held religious belief”
Religious Beliefs like that of Stephanie Grandy, a Registered Nurse who was recently removed from the schedule at AR Gould
Stephanie Grandy, RN “The lord personally has told us, Jesus our creator, The god that created our universe and created us has told us and convicted us heavily against taking these vaccines”
We reached out to the Attorney Generals Office and received this statement CG: “The requirement in Maine that health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 is based on a determination by public health experts... We will vigorously defend the requirement against this lawsuit and we are confident that it will be upheld…”
Staver” This is a very simple, straightforward case. Look, Maine can have different laws, but it cannot be immune from the federal laws that apply to all employees, nor can it be immune from the United States Constitution. That’s the end of the story.”
There was a short hearing of the case today, the Judge stated he will expedite the case, and will be setting a preliminary injunction hearing for early September, before the September 17th deadline required for the Johnson and Johnson Vaccine.
Corey Bouchard, Newssource 8
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