Sr. Deirdre Byrne, POSC, M.D. v. Muriel Bowser

On March 9, 2022, Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sister Deirdre Byrne, a licensed healthcare worker, against Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt, and the District of Columbia. The suit challenged the District’s refusal to grant Byrne a religious exemption from a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for healthcare workers, violating her rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 and the First Amendment.

Sister Deirdre, guided by her deeply held religious and moral convictions, objected to receiving a vaccine developed or tested using aborted fetal tissue. Despite submitting a religious exemption request in August 2021 and a renewal in January 2022, D.C. Health denied her exemption, claiming it posed an “undue hardship” without further explanation. On February 26, 2022, she was given five days to comply or risk losing her medical license, though she was not employed by D.C. Health.

Thomas More Society argued that the denial infringed on Byrne’s fundamental right to free exercise of religion. Following the filing of the complaint, the D.C. government promptly granted Sister Deirdre’s religious exemption, resolving the immediate threat to her license.