Look at Hochul's statement below justifying no religious exemptions, as quoted in Gorsuch's dissent. We now have a governor who thinks she speaks for God. Even Cuomo never said that.
Also note that Hochul's mandate is not an executive order, it is a directive. It carries no legal weight. It explicitly places the burden of enforcement solely on the various counties within the state. And many of those counties have announced that they will not enforce the directive (Dutchess, Putnam, Saratoga...). She is trying to avoid legal action, because she knows she hasn't a leg to stand on. So she uses misleading soft pressure instead. God bless the county executives who are not complying.
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“It seems New York is one of just three States to have a scheme like this. And it seems originally even New York was headed in a different direction. When it announced the mandate, the then-Governor [Andrew Cuomo] promised a religious exemption. Weeks later, the State backtracked. It offered no scientific evidence, or even a written explanation, for the decision…
The new Governor [Kathy Hochul] announced that the decision to eliminate the exemption was ‘intentional’ and justified because no ‘organized religion’ sought it and individuals who did were not ‘listening to God and what God wants.’ Now, thousands of New York healthcare workers face the loss of their jobs and eligibility for unemployment benefits.”... MORE...
They cannot deny religious exemptions, they have no power to insist you have the jab in the first place.
The constituion/bill of rights lays down restrictions on the things the government cannot do. One of those is interfering with your right to your religious beliefs.
It's all a sleight of hand trick to fool people into thinking the government has a say...they don't.