(The Center Square) – The Arizona Legislature filed an emergency application to the Supreme Court over COVID-19 vaccine mandates on the federal level.
The goal of wanting an injunction brought back is to stop federal contractors from being required to take the vaccine, as the Biden administration executive order from September 2021 is pending litigation.
“We will not allow President Biden to blatantly undermine the will of the Arizona State Legislature in the protections we’ve provided for our citizens to prevent a COVID-19 vaccine mandate from dictating employment opportunities,” Republican Senate President Warren Petersen said in a statement Wednesday.
“The Biden Administration has made it clear that they are against any Americans who push back against this vaccine and will abuse their powers in order to force compliance as a stipulation of doing business with the federal government. Arizona will not tolerate this gross government overreach and intrusion of individual liberties. The Legislature’s intervention in this lawsuit against President Biden is critical in protecting the sovereignty of our state and the rights of all Arizonans,” Petersen continued.
An injunction was originally in place by the U.S. District Court of Arizona since Feb. 2022, but it was scrapped by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this month.
“Procedurally, this application challenges the Ninth Circuit’s sua sponte order staying the district court’s injunction against enforcement of the Contractor Mandate in Arizona, which otherwise would have remained in effect pending issuance of the mandate,” the application states. “Because the Federal Respondents did not request a stay below, the Ninth Circuit overreached when it disturbed the status quo and stayed the district court’s injunction sua sponte.”
Although COVID-19 is no longer considered a national emergency, the decision of whether or not employers should require their employees to get the vaccine remains a contentious topic. Biden also tried to mandate the vaccine for federal workers, but that is currently blocked by an appeals court, according to NBC News.
