A NSW paramedic in the Supreme Court objected to being jabbed, claiming Covid vaccines may be made using cells from aborted foetuses, which went against his religious beliefs.
A paramedic and regional deputy mayor has lost a court challenge against mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for health workers in NSW after he unsuccessfully argued the laws were invalid.
John Edward Larter took civil action against NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard in the Supreme Court claiming, among other things, the legislation interfered with a person’s right to conscientiously object to vaccination on religious grounds.
Justice Christine Adamson on Wednesday ruled to dismiss Mr Larter’s challenge after sitting through a hearing before the court last week.
Mr Larter, a practicing Catholic, said in an affidavit before the court he chose not to receive the AstraZeneca jab because he believed it may have been sourced from the cells of aborted foetuses.
The deputy mayor of the Snowy Valley Council, who also works as a paramedic at Tumut ambulance station, also thinks the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were derived from stem cell research.
On both counts he objected to receiving the vaccines because, he claimed, it went against his religious beliefs.
In her judgment Justice Adamson noted Mr Larter’s religious beliefs, although genuine, were contradicted by material from the Vatican he filed with his affidavit.
The material stated vaccines “can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines derive”.
Justice Adamson said: “Thus, the plaintiff’s religious beliefs, which I accept are genuinely held, would appear to depart from public statements made by the Catholic Church in response to the pandemic.”
During the hearing it was revealed that as of late October, up to 97 per cent of health workers in the state had received at least one vaccine dose, while 92 per cent were fully vaccinated.
Mr Larter argued it was unreasonable to force the remaining conscientious objectors to also be jabbed in order to continue working.
Justice Adamson ruled, however, the mandatory vaccine laws were reasonable based on the serious health risks associated with Covid-19.
The court heard the Tumut station leader was currently on sick leave but had also been suspended by the Paramedicine Council of NSW due to his alleged public statements about vaccines.
Under the latest legislation enacted on October 22, people would not be allowed to work in health care from September 30 unless they had one jab and November 30 if they were fully vaccinated.
“Although the vast majority of health care workers did not need the incentive provided by the orders to be vaccinated, the effect of the orders was to remove the increased risk of transmission posed by unvaccinated NSW Health workers,” Justice Adamson wrote in her judgment.
“It would be of no comfort to the vulnerable patient who is infected by the unvaccinated health care worker to be told that he or she was unlucky by being in the wrong ward at the wrong time because most health care workers had been vaccinated.”
Justice Adamson has reserved her decision on court costs.
Originally published as Paramedic John Larter loses mandatory vaccination challenge
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