“Frankly, I think this hearkens back [to] Nazi Germany.”
The above quote came from West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, as he spoke in favor of the bill allowing COVID vaccine exemptions.
When the unvaccinated are rounded up like cattle and herded into concentration camps (like the Trail of Tears or Japanese internment camps) and sent into gas chambers, then the comparison to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust will be fair.
While some Republican senators like Blair spouted conspiracies and hyperboles during debate over Gov. Jim Justice’s requested bill, others spoke wisdom and sense — like Majority Leader Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, who said, “Freedom only goes so far until it bleeds on someone else’s freedom.”
As The Dominion Post reported: HB 335 says an employer that requires vaccination for hiring or continued employment must grant certain exemptions, based on receiving from the current or prospective employee either a certification from a physician or nurse practitioner that a vaccine is not safe for that person, the person has a specific precaution or the person has natural antibody immunity from COVID-19 exposure or recovery; or a notarized certificate of religious objection.
About the only part of HB 335 that has any merit is the exemption that allows individuals to provide a doctor’s note stating that the vaccine is not safe for them. The rest of it is nonsensical and some of it may soon be illegal.
The biggest issue is the new rule in HB 335 for the certificate of religious objection, which every major health care system in the state, as well as the right-leaning Chamber of Commerce, opposed. To paraphrase Attorney Mark Carter, who spoke before the House of Delegates, the notarized certificate undercuts the interactive process that allows employers to determine if the exemption is legitimate and to offer reasonable accommodation (such as regular testing).
Richard Dahl, in an article for FindLaw, explains U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines for denying religious exemptions: Employers may “take into account whether the accommodation would produce a particularly desirable benefit that is likely sought for secular reasons,” “whether the timing of the request is suspect” and/or “whether the employer has reason to believe that the accommodation is not sought for religious reasons.” Current practices allow employers to ask for supporting evidence for a religious belief before granting an exemption. HB 335 takes that power out of employers’ hands.
An actual “sincerely held religious belief” would be like Jehovah’s Witnesses refusing a blood transfusion, because adherents believe human life should not be sustained with another creature’s blood. According to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, only two religious groups in the U.S. openly discourage vaccinations. Even Pope Francis articulated his support for vaccination against COVID-19.
Ever since the COVID vaccines came out, many people seem to have suddenly found God — or at least an excuse not to get their shots.
Finally, HB 335 sets up a state law that is likely to be in direct conflict with federal law once the new rules from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration are finalized and implemented. It’ll pin employers between a rock and a hard place, as they face the threat of thousands of dollars in fines from OSHA and the threat of employee lawsuits in an already lawsuit-happy state.
The entire bill is a mess and should never have passed, but this is what happens when the Legislature is filled with people who, like Blair, don’t trust lawyers to know the law and don’t trust doctors to know medicine and science.
