Wisconsin Legislators Vote to Ban Church Closures and Mandatory Vaccinations

Catholic World Report ^ | 3/23/21 | Joseph M.Hanneman

[marshmallow]

The bill’s main sponsor, Republican Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt of Fond du Lac, said Gov. Tony Evers should have acknowledged he has no power to infringe on constitutionally protected rights.

MADISON, Wisconsin — For the second time in 2021, Wisconsin legislators have approved bills to protect churches from government-ordered shut-downs and ban governments and employers from requiring individuals get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Wisconsin Assembly voted largely along party lines to approve a trio of bills on government efforts to contain outbreaks of COVID-19. The entire Wisconsin Legislature earlier this year approved an omnibus COVID-19 bill containing nearly identical provisions. Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the bill. Lawmakers decided to bring the measures back as individual bills.

Assembly Bill 24 would prohibit local health officials from closing places of worship or forbidding religious gatherings to prevent spread of the Wuhan coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The Assembly on Tuesday approved AB-24 on a 61-33 vote. The bill was supported by Pro-Life Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of Wisconsin’s five bishops.

In March 2020, Gov. Tony Evers issued an emergency order that forced churches to cancel in-person worship in an effort to control spread of COVID-19. After Evers’ “Safer at Home” order was struck down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in May 2020, churches around the state began to open with greatly reduced capacity, some under county-ordered mitigation protocols.

The bill’s main sponsor, Republican Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt of Fond du Lac, said Evers should have acknowledged he has no power to infringe on constitutionally protected rights, and then asked churches to voluntarily cooperate in disease-control efforts.

“We have internal divisions within our congregations because they were not allowed to make that decision for themselves,” Thiesfeldt said during Tuesday’s floor debate. “The government of the state of Wisconsin caused division within churches.............

[Secret Agent Man]

Thank God the wi legislature sometimes is run by republicans.

Of course this wont stop wi courts declring the law unconstitutional or the governor or ag or health people doing whatever the hell they want.

[BenLurkin]

Isn’t Wisconsin the state where the anarchists occupied the capitol building for a week?

Looks like the pinkos will be coming back to do it again.

[Repeal The 17th]

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[marktwain]

Evers has been a disaster for the State.