A coalition of federal lawmakers today urged the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate four states whose laws prohibit religious exemptions for school vaccine mandates.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, lawmakers warned that vaccine mandate laws in New York, California, Maine and Connecticut violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.
Lawmakers also asked the DOJ to intervene in two New York lawsuits where Children’s Health Defense (CHD) is either a plaintiff or is financing the case.
Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) is the lead author of the letter, which is also addressed to Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights.
As of this afternoon, 13 Congress members had signed the letter.
“Religious freedom is the cornerstone of our Republic,” Steube said in a statement to The Defender. “It is inexcusable that New York, California, Maine, and Connecticut refuse to provide people of faith with a religious exemption from their vaccine mandates. This is not only a direct violation of the Free Exercise Clause, but it is also a grave assault on civil liberties.”
He added:
“Your constitutional rights should never take a backseat to a vaccine mandate. That is why I am requesting Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon launch formal investigations of all states that continue to violate the constitutional rights of the American people via coercion and infringement on their religious beliefs.”
Allowing the four states to violate citizens’ constitutional rights has emboldened states like Massachusetts and Hawaii, which are considering eliminating religious exemptions for vaccines, to “further encroach upon Americans’ rights,” according to the lawmakers.
The four states make up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, said Cait Corrigan, a former congressional candidate from New York and a medical freedom advocate who helped raise awareness at the federal level and worked with Steube’s office on the effort.
Corrigan said she hopes the DOJ will intervene in “the tragedy that is happening in these four states.”
Hellbound and Down 