Amish Threatening To Leave New York Over Vaccine Mandates

The Amish community in New York has threatened to leave the state over vaccine mandates instituted under former Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo and is taking its case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The New York Department of Health (DOH) has continually fined the state’s Amish community, comprised of 25,000 people, over its refusal to comply with the state vaccine mandates, according to the New York Post. Three Amish schools, which are among the plaintiffs in Miller v. McDonald, have accumulated a combined $118,000 in fines.

In response, the Amish have petitioned the Supreme Court to rehear their case next month, according to the outlet. The Supreme Court previously sent the case back to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals for reconsideration, and the appellate court again dismissed the complaint.

In June 2019, Cuomo removed non-medical exemptions from vaccines amid an ongoing measles outbreak, ABC News reported. New York had 566 confirmed cases, and Rockland County had 259 confirmed cases of measles through June 2019, with many instances of the disease occurring in Orthodox Jewish communities.

New York followed California, which removed religious exemptions to vaccine mandates in 2015. In New York, students in Pre-K through 12th grade are expected to receive over 20 vaccines, including measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), polio, and others, according to the DOH’s official immunization requirement list. (RELATED: ‘They Are Making Excuses’: College Activists Demand University System Overturn Vaccine Mandate)

Amish threaten mass exodus from New York over vaccine fight -which is heading to the Supreme Court https://t.co/vrycvOy9yM pic.twitter.com/vQ3pOFscCW

The Amish community typically uses one-room schoolhouses, which do not receive any public funding, to educate children. Attorney Hiram Sasser, who represents multiple plaintiffs in Miller v. McDonald, shared his thoughts on the case with the New York Post.

“Have we gotten to a place where we aren’t going to make room for the Amish anymore?”

“When you think of Americana — apple pie, fireworks — the Amish are on that list. They’re part of the American fabric. They’re a good litmus test of our religious liberty and our tolerance,” Sasser said.

“Watch ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ It’s the one-room schoolhouse and Laura Ingalls Wilder teaching the kids. It’s a way of life that use [sic] to predominate across America, but the Amish are still holding on to it. We’ve acknowledged that as a nation and given them their space this whole time. And now that’s being tested,” he continued.

Ezra Wengerd, a member of New York’s Amish community, offered a similar sentiment.

“We, as a peace loving religious group, are sincerely sorry that we are causing the state a prob [sic]. We are indeed grateful to the state of NY for the many privileges freedoms and protections they have blessed us with, for many years,” he wrote in a handwritten letter shared with the New York Post.

Amish communities’ attitudes toward vaccines tend to be driven by personal faith more than official religious teaching, according to the Des Moines Register.

“The main concern with vaccinations for some Amish is that they should put their trust in God rather than science,” Mark Dewalt, who teaches educational research at Winthrop University, explained to the Register.