Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21a90_6j37.pdf
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6 

DOES 1–3 v. MILLS 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

327, 330–331 (1969)).  This Court’s precedents “do not sup-
port such a lopsided inquiry.”  741 F. 3d, at 57. 

That takes us to the application of strict scrutiny.  Strict 
scrutiny requires the State to show that its challenged law 
serves  a  compelling  interest  and  represents  the  least  re-
strictive means for doing so.  Lukumi, 508 U. S., at 546.  For 
purposes of resolving this application, I accept that what we 
said 11 months ago remains true today—that “[s]temming 
the spread of COVID–19” qualifies as “a compelling inter-
est.”  Roman  Catholic  Diocese  of  Brooklyn  v.  Cuomo,  592 
U. S.  ___,  ___  (2020)  (per curiam)  (slip  op.,  at  4).  At  the 
same time, I would acknowledge that this interest cannot 
qualify  as  such  forever.  Back  when  we  decided  Roman 
Catholic  Diocese,  there  were  no  widely  distributed  vac-
cines.1  Today there are three.2  At that time, the country
had comparably few treatments for those suffering with the
disease.  Today  we  have  additional  treatments  and  more 
appear near.3  If human nature and history teach anything, 
—————— 

1 Our opinion in Roman Catholic Diocese was published on November 
25, 2020.  COVID–19 vaccines outside of clinical trials weren’t available 
to the public until the following month.  See P. Loftus & M. West, First 
Covid-19  Vaccine  Given  to  U. S.  Public,  Wall  Street  J.,  Dec.  14,  2020, 
https: // www.wsj.com /articles/covid-19-vaccinations-in-the-u-s-slated-to-
begin-monday-11607941806. 

2 Over  200  million  Americans,  nearly  seven  in  ten,  have  received  at 
least one dose of these vaccines.  Nearly six in ten Americans have been
fully vaccinated, including about 85% of those older than 65.  See CDC, 
COVID–19 Vaccinations in the United States, COVID Data Tracker (Oct.
28,  2021),  http://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-
total-admin-rate-total.  Among States, Maine has particularly high vac-
cination  rates:    About  70%  of  its  population  has  been  fully  vaccinated, 
good for fourth-best in the Nation.  See Maine Coronavirus Vaccination 
Progress, USA Facts (Oct. 26, 2021), https://usafacts.org/visualizations/
covid-vaccine-tracker-states/state/maine. 

3 C. Johnson, Merck’s Experimental Pill To Treat COVID–19 Cuts Risk 
of Hospitalization and Death in Half, the Pharmaceutical Company Re-
ports,  Washington  Post,  Oct.  1,  2021,  https://www.washingtonpost.
com/health/2021/10/01/pill-to-treat-covid/  (noting  that  as  of  October  1,
2021,  “[t]he  United  States  moved  a  major  step  closer  . . .  to  having  an