College students sued Indiana University on the grounds that they should not have to comply with a vaccine requirement. Now, the highest court in the land agreed with the university and refused to block the university’s requirement for the fall 2021 semester.
U.S. Supreme Court associate justice Amy Coney Barrett denied the challenge and no other justice noted dissents from her decision. Barrett, who last worked at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana as a law professor, is “the justice in charge of that region of the country,” as NBC News reported.
Eight students asked for an emergency order on the grounds that the risks of getting the vaccine outweighed the benefits of the vaccine for their age.
The lead counsel for the Indiana students, James Bopp Jr., said the lawsuit meant to “preserve students’ rights to bodily integrity and autonomy and the right to consent to medical treatment.” Bopp added that the “unconstitutional mandate” failed to address legitimate concerns about the risks of the coronavirus vaccines for the college student age group.
The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court after several rulings, in which, for example, a federal judge sided with Indiana University’s right to pursue “a reasonable and due process of vaccination in the legitimate interest of public health” and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said that the vaccine requirement is less demanding due to medical and religious exemptions.
