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New York’s elimination of religious exemptions for school vaccine mandates is threatening to drive Amish families from the state, according to First Liberty Institute attorney Hiram Sasser, who is urging the Supreme Court to intervene in the ongoing legal battle.
For decades, New York allowed religious exemptions for schoolchildren. But the state repealed that exemption in 2019, leaving Amish families and their small private schools facing vaccination requirements and potentially crippling fines. The Second Circuit upheld the law in June, and the Amish have since asked the Supreme Court to take up the case.
“For decades, New York had a religious exemption for their vaccine mandate that they had on the books, and it protected the Amish who’ve been there for over 200 years,” Sasser told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
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New York’s elimination of religious exemptions for school vaccine mandates could drive Amish families out of the state, according to one legal group. (Getty Images)
“And it’s just such a shame that New York is one of the only states in America that decided that they wanted to get rid of their vaccine religious exemption and to try to impose it on everybody, including private schools and unfortunately hitting the Amish who have their own ‘Little House on the Prairie’ style schools that they have on their farms and for whatever reason New York decided that they were going to start enforcing this requirement on the Amish who, frankly, just don’t participate in these kinds of things and instead of just leaving the Amish alone, New York decided to enforce it.”
Sasser said the state has put “crushing fines” on the Amish, which are endangering their farms and even the ability to stay in New York.
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For decades, New York allowed religious exemptions for schoolchildren before repealing that exemption in 2019. (Getty Images)
“We’re representing the Amish, and I got to tell you, when they filed their declaration with the court, it was, it’s handwritten because that’s how they do it, and they work as a community together…They want to be really good citizens, they want to do their part for the state of New York, for America,” Sasser said. “They want to live quiet, humble lives, be good neighbors, but New York is putting them to a religious test that we should never put the Amish to.”
Sasser said the dispute is about more than vaccines and could determine whether the Amish can continue living out their faith and traditional way of life in New York.
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First Liberty argues that the Amish are being threatened by a state law revoking religious exemptions for vaccines. (iStock)
“These are the Amish schools like ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ if you’ve ever seen that show. It’s like that, and they’re carrying out a way of life that was that predominated across America for a long time, but we’ve all sort of moved on with modern things, but they’re holding the fort, so to speak, of a way of life that we all used to live,” Sasser said.
“I have no idea why the state of New York wants to go in there and shut them down,” Sasser continued. “Frankly, the Amish would just like to be left alone, but they still really want to be positive members of the community. They want to serve their neighbors, they want to be good citizens, and New York just won’t seem to let them do that unless they violate their religious beliefs.”
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First Liberty has urged the Supreme Court to hear the case. (Getty Images)
First Liberty said they are awaiting a response from the other side, then a decision from the Supreme Court.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the New York Department of Health said, “The state’s responsibility is to protect public health, keep New Yorkers and their families safe and enforce the law fairly and equitably. While we cannot comment on pending litigation, the Department is committed to eliminating serious illness and unnecessary deaths caused by vaccine preventable diseases. The Department continues to provide community outreach and education on the safety of immunizations. New York’s school immunization requirements are based in science and protect the health and well-being of all New Yorkers.”
Fox News Digital reached out to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for comment, as well as commissioner of education Betty Rosa.