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Eight Indiana University students are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the school's COVID-19 vaccine mandate that requires all students and staff to get vaccinated for the fall semester by Aug. 13, the Associated Press reported.
The vaccine mandate was supported by two lower court rulings with a federal appeals court panel of three judges, including two appointed by former President Donald Trump, upholding the school's orders earlier this week. Under the mandate, students that do not get the vaccine will have their school registration canceled and unvaccinated employees will lose their positions unless there are medical and religious exemptions. Those qualifying for exemptions must be tested twice weekly for COVID-19.
The eight students, seven who qualify for religious exemptions, filed court papers Friday to fight the mandate and ask the Supreme Court to ban it. The court had never been asked to rule on a vaccine mandate until now.
In the court papers, the students wrote they have "a constitutional right to bodily integrity, autonomy, and of medical treatment choice in the context of a vaccination mandate."
Around 90,000 students attend Indiana University with roughly 40,000 people on staff across its seven campuses.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
The student's request to block the vaccine mandate comes as some corporations, states and cities are also contemplating or have adopted vaccine requirements for workers or even to dine indoors.
The case is not the first time a coronavirus-related issue has been before the court. In rulings over the past year, the conservative-dominated high court has largely backed religious groups who have challenged restrictions on indoor services during the coronavirus pandemic.
The school announced this week that for now, everyone, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a mask indoors while on campus.
The eight students are asking for an injunction from the high court barring the university from enforcing the mandate.
There is no deadline for the court to act, despite the students' request for a ruling by Aug. 13.
In July, an Indiana district court judge sided with the university in declining to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the vaccine mandate. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit voted 3-0 to uphold the decision earlier this week. Two of the three judges were appointed by Trump and the third by former President Ronald Reagan.
The university initially was going to require students and employees to provide immunization documentation but after a backlash changed its policy to make providing proof optional. Students and employees now must simply attest to their vaccination in an online form.
College officials across the country have struggled with whether to require vaccinations, with some schools mandating them and others questioning whether they have the legal authority to do so. Similar lawsuits against student vaccine requirements have been filed in other states.
Over the past two weeks, vaccine mandates have become a particularly hot issue. On Friday, United Airlines announced it would become the first major U.S. airline to require vaccination for workers. Google, Facebook, Tyson Foods and Microsoft are among the other companies mandating vaccines.
Late last month, the Department of Veterans Affairs became the first federal agency to require vaccinations for its health workers. President Joe Biden has since announced that federal workers will be required to sign forms attesting they've been vaccinated against the coronavirus or else comply with new rules on mandatory masking, weekly testing, distancing and more.
