A federal judge in Louisiana blocked a federal China Virus vaccine mandate for health care workers Tuesday, issuing a nationwide injunction.
It is considered to be a major setback to President Biden’s effort to require vast majorities of the population to be vaccinated.
Louisiana Western District U.S. Judge Terry Doughty’s decision follows an identical ruling Monday from Missouri U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp, but Schelp’s decision only covered 10 states, the Advocate reported.
Doughty ruled on the lawsuit led by Republican Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and joined by 13 other states, but Doughty added a nationwide injunction in his ruling.
“If the executive branch is allowed to usurp the power of the legislative branch to make laws, two of the three powers conferred by our Constitution would be in the same hands,” he wrote. “If human nature and history teach anything, it is that civil liberties face grave risks when governments proclaim indefinite states of emergency.”
“During a pandemic such as this one, it is even more important to safeguard the separation of powers set forth in our Constitution to avoid erosion of our liberties.”
Biden’s emergency order would have covered more than 17 million health care workers.
“While Joe Biden villainizes our healthcare heroes with his ‘jab or job’ edicts, I will continue to stand up to the president’s bully tactics and fight for liberty,” Landry said in a statement. “While our fight is far from over, I am pleased the court granted preliminary relief against the president’s unconstitutional and immoral attack on not only our healthcare workers but also the access to healthcare services for our poor and elderly.”
Doughty was nominated to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump in 2017.
“It is important to preserve the status quo in this case,” he wrote. “The liberty interests of the unvaccinated requires nothing less.”
Doughty’s ruling echoes one from U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp, who issued a 32-page order on Monday blocking the Biden administration from enforcing their vaccine mandate on health care workers in 10 states.