The Amish have been living in New York since the late 1600s. Like many others, they came to America for their religious freedom. They are a quiet, peaceful community that lives a traditional life with minimal or no modern conveniences. They don’t ask you to follow their rules or live as they do.
They had been living peacefully in New York until 2019. At that time, there was an outbreak of measles in an Orthodox Jewish community where children were unvaccinated.
Based on that outbreak, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo rescinded religious exemptions for school vaccine mandates – making NY the second state to ever do so, behind California.
While not a community to litigate, the Amish will do so when what is being asked of them is against their Biblical beliefs. They will obey God over government every time.
Upstate New York Amish parents, whose children attend private one-room Amish schools, have been in court since 2024 fighting Cuomo’s mandate. Please note their schools are on private land and receive no federal or state funding. This Amish and Mennonite community consists of around 25,000 – the fifth-largest U.S. Amish community.
Twenty-two states have sided with the Amish. Alabama filed the original amicus brief with all 22 states listed. One of those states was Alaska.
Two years earlier, the New York Department of Health began fining these Amish schools for non-compliance. The three schools listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit – Shady Lane School in Clymer, NY, Pleasant View in Heuvelton, NY, and Dygert Road School near Canajoharie – have racked up $118,000 in fines.
Their original case went to the 2nd U.S. District Court of Appeals in November of 2024. The plaintiffs asked for a religious exemption from vaccines due to their religious beliefs – citing the 1st and 14th Amendments. In March of 2025, the three-judge court ruled the New York State law requiring Amish students to receive vaccinations does not violate those students’ constitutional rights. The panel stated that if they allowed a blanket religious exemption for immunizations, it would cause “clusters of low vaccination rates and an inability to achieve herd immunity in certain communities.”
The lawyers for the plaintiffs took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for another look. That court ruled against them again, reissuing its original decision.
The lawyers representing the Amish community are going to petition the U.S. Supreme Court again to hear their case. I am praying this time their rights under the First Amendment will be recognized.
Aaron Siri, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, stated, “The only way the community would be able to meet the fines is if the state confiscated their land to pay them.”
The taking of private property is a hallmark of socialism and communism. Note that your body is also your property.
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The lawyers for the Amish state that if they are unsuccessful in fighting this injustice, the Amish/Mennonite community may leave the state for good -possibly heading to Pennsylvania, which has the largest Amish population in the country at around 95,000.
Amish culture generally forbids both litigation and injectables. “The Amish really don’t want to be in this position. They don’t want to be engaging in this lawsuit in any way at all. But they’ve been left with no choice,” Siri said.
Twenty-two states have sided with the Amish. Alabama filed the original amicus brief with all 22 states listed. One of those states was Alaska.
It would be hard to imagine such an affront to religious and personal freedom had we not lived through the Covid years. The government trampled all over your freedoms in the name of “pandemic” and flattening the curve.
Today, the truth is being revealed about the “pandemic.” How it came to be, what was hidden from us, how politicians and scientists either blatantly lied or parsed the truth.
If you want to hear more about your personal freedom, come to the Alaskans4personalfreedom event on October 3. It’s at UAA Wendy Williamson. Time is 8:30 a.m. to 6 pm. Cost is $60 to include a box lunch. Register here.
The views expressed here are those of the author.
