Oklahoma sued Ascension Healthcare on Friday because the Roman Catholic hospital operator’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees allegedly violated the state’s laws against religious discrimination, in what appeared to be the first case of its kind.
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor, a Republican, accused the organization of discrimination by denying requests for religious exemptions from the healthcare system’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement.
According to the lawsuit, Mitchell Duininck, a physician in Tulsa, sought a religious exemption because taking a vaccine that was developed with ties to aborted fetal cells would violate his sincerely held religious beliefs.
After submitting a seven-page letter explaining his request, he received a denial without explanation in a process the lawsuit described as a “sham.”