Your Body, Your…Choice?
The Supreme Court Blocks President Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Workers
January 18, 2022
On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court decided to block President Joe Biden’s big business Covid-19 vaccine and testing mandate. This mandate was to require private businesses with over 100 people to force employees to either get a Covid-19 vaccine or get tested once a week to work.
The new conservative court decided to block this mandate for workers in big business, but they continued to uphold the mandate for healthcare workers and for workers in facilities that take Medicaid and Medicare. But, they still are allowed to be exempt from the vaccine with a medical or religious exemption.
Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan said, “As disease and death continue to mount, this Court tells the agency that it cannot respond in the most effective way possible. Without legal basis, the Court usurps a decision that rightfully belongs to others. It undercuts the capacity of the responsible federal officials, acting well within the scope of their authority, to protect American workers from grave danger.”
People on both sides are and were angry over the mandate, but both sides just sound hypocritical. The left is pushing for the vaccine mandate without choice, yet they are the “my body my choice” side with abortion, and the right is against the vaccine mandate, saying “my body my choice,” yet they are pro life and are against abortion choice. So, neither side is using any bit of logic and they are continuing to deepen the rift between the two parties.
The tension is continuing to grow in our nation over this overturn, and Biden addressed the nation saying, “The Court has ruled that my administration cannot use the authority granted to it by Congress to require this measure, but that does not stop me from using my voice as President to advocate for employers to do the right thing to protect Americans’ health and economy.”
This fight over the role of the government in vaccine mandates is definitely far from over. As time goes on, I bet that there will be many other debates over different vaccines and medicines that the government will try to mandate for the public.
