More than 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 since the virus began spreading in December 2019, and the U.S. has recorded around 89 million cases. It also allows them to restrict sailors' movement "in order to comply with host nation quarantine regulations.". FILE - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Nov. 16, 2022. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly. The lawsuit, in which 14 men and two women serving in the military are named as plaintiffs, names U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, three U.S. military service secretaries and other. Mike Berry, general counsel for First Liberty Institute,said: Forcing a service member to choose between their faith and serving their country is abhorrent to the Constitution and Americas values . Mike Barry: Probably not at the Supreme Court level. Nor do they mention the host of common medications that also use these stem cells, including Tylenol, Advil/Motrin, aspirin, Tums, Pepto Bismol, Benadryl, Sudafed and Claritin. Staver, the attorney for the Florida plaintiffs, said his clients have shared their exemption rejection letters, which do not detail specifically why their requests werent approved. The government has since filed a notice that it plans to appeal the decision. . Under the law, theres no requirement that you adhere to a major or even recognized faith tradition, he said. But in terms of the underlying legal issues that are raised, no, theyre exactly the same. By The Associated Press WASHINGTON A bill to rescind the Covid-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military and provide nearly $858 billion for national defense passed the House on. "We will continue to promote and encourage COVID-19 vaccination for all personnel to ensure readiness, facilitate mission accomplishment, and protect the force.". Commercial airlines has said, you know what, were gonna lift the mask mandate. The Pentagon directed all the services to "formally rescind any policies, directives, and guidance implementing those vaccination mandates as soon as possible, if they have not already done so," according to a Friday press release. In his order, OConnor granted an injunction against the Biden administration and the Department of Defense, preventing them from enforcing the vaccine mandate against any of the named service members who had applied for a religious exemption. Two staff sergeants, one Army, one Marine, have filed a lawsuit against three federal agencies, challenging plans to conduct mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations of military troops. Other federal court challenges to various COVID-19 vaccine mandates are ongoing. There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment. It took four years and was licensed in 1967. AFLDS has also pushed ivermectin and. When you treat people who have a medical exemption for more favorably than you treat somebody who has a religious exemption, that is textbook discrimination, and thats whats happening. The policy does allow commanders to "implement Health Protection Measures at any time or manner deemed necessary in support of operational safety and effectiveness." 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In December, the Air Force announced it had discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID . Per FDA guidance, these two vaccines are interchangeable and DoD health care providers should use doses distributed under the EUA to administer the vaccination series as if the doses were the licensed vaccine, " she wrote. Army leadership has been eyeing the possibility of a mandated COVID-19 vaccine this summer, including in a June information paper originating from the Army's health care operations directorate . The Army reported about 1,300 religious requests, none of which have been approved, as well as six medical exemptions. NEW ORLEANS Federal appeals court judges closely questioned a Biden administration attorney Monday on the consequences military personnel might face for refusing COVID-19 vaccinations, even. But although the Air Force has approved hundreds of medical and administrative exemptions, they have only approved a very small handful of religious exemptions and even the ones that theyve approved by their own admission, they are only for Air Force members who are basically already separating or are already on their way out. The lawsuit attempts to overturn Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's order that active-duty service members are required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. "I am proud of the efforts the Department of the Army has taken to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," Wormuth said. Jared Serbu: Last thing, theres a lot of these vaccine cases, even just military vaccine cases floating around in various district courts and circuits the moment. So that, right now that number is several thousand. Judge Matthew McFarlands decision brings the case, Doster v. Kendall, closer to trial as a class-action lawsuit. He has criticized the Air Force for what he sees as a failure to carefully consider the merits of each exemption request and instead sweepingly reject them. You got a preliminary injunction in that case and a favorable ruling from the Fifth Circuit. The law says that sincerely held religious beliefs are to be taken at face value. ", -- Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report. Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek declined to comment on ongoing litigation and how it may affect how the service handles religious accommodation requests. The Navy SEALS filed their lawsuit in November of 2021, describing what they saw as a cumbersome 50-step process to obtain religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine. Religious freedom laws are set up to avoid a circumstance where the Navy, or the military or the government, is doing a faith test, to determine whether or not you really believe what youre supposed to believe, Griffin said. All of the military services are currently reworking their policies to adjust separation and promotion records for service members who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, after the Pentagon ended the inoculation mandate last month. The mandate treats comparable secular activity (e.g., medical exemptions) more favorably than religious activity. At 1,038, the Marine Corps leads the military branches for the most separations. That is especially true when the government imposes a choice between ones job and ones religious belief. Rabies shots are required only for some service members in certain career fields. On Feb. 17, the service lifted its policy of banning unvaccinated sailors from deploying. Sixty-seven percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. While vials contain the same formula, some have made the argument that because providers are still giving the emergency-use Pfizer version, no one can be compelled to get vaccinated until the Comirnaty-labeled vials are in circulation. Similar suits have been brought throughout the country by service members across the military branches. The Pentagon has not provided any public updates or said when the formal policy will be issued. But Im willing to do that. The new policy guidance to the services makes no mention of reinstating service members who were separated from the military for refusing the shot. The U.S . We are hemorrhaging people like crazy, and were having a really hard time recruiting capable people to join our military. The prospect of dishonorable discharges has been a concern for some against vaccine mandates, but that type of discharge can only be handed down through a court-martial conviction. Copyright 2023 Military.com. And really, the greatest harm here is not just to our members of the military who are suffering under this, but its actually to our nation. Until any harm is remedied, according to Bruns, the case is still active. What the government will have to prove, in both cases, is that while its granted thousands of medical and administrative exemptions though many of those are temporary that the high bar for approval of religious exemptions is necessary for keeping the force healthy and deployable. And both lawsuits include arguments that the plaintiffs prayed on the issue and came to the conclusion that vaccination would violate their principles. The only difference is really is that each branch of the military has their own internal regulations and policies for how they adjudicate these things. Pfizer Inc wants to intervene in a Texas federal lawsuit seeking information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration used in licensing the company's COVID-19 vaccine, a litigation move that . The lawsuit emerges as the latest development in an ongoing fight between state leaders and the federal government as Gov. Subscribe on PodcastOne or Apple Podcasts. The suit was initially filed by a group of Navy SEALs but later expanded to include all vaccine-refusing sailors. To date, no members of the Army or Space Force have received a religious exemption, though nine airmen and three Marines have been approved. More than 1.14 million out of the 1.4 million active military members have been fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, according to DoD data. Were pleased that the court has acted to protect our brave warriors before more damage is done to our national security. While in Texas, the sailors offered descriptions of their jobs, in Florida, the biographical information goes into training, deployments and expertise, attempting to make the case that their involuntary discharges would be a huge loss. The Texas case has smaller aspirations purposely, Berry said. Hes one of the attorneys representing the airmen challenging the mandate, and he spoke more to Jared Serbu on theFederal Drive with Tom Temin. The World Health Organization approved Covaxin for emergency use in late 2021, making it a viable option for airmen who object to the three main U.S. shots. More than 8,400 troops were forced out of the military for refusing to obey a lawful order when they declined to get the vaccine. I think one of the militarys concerns is whats the limiting principle here? [Many] didnt even know that there was a religious exemption option, because they had never been informed of it, Staver said. And thats why this is a sham.Jared Serbu: The Air Force case is a putative class action. DoD, for its part, settled its own policy with a memo from Assistant Defense Secretary for Health Affairs Terry Adirim last fall. The government has recently ordered imminent punitive action against those men and women of faith who cannot in good conscience take these experimental vaccines, and this order stops the government in its tracks, Adam Hochschild, a lawyer with the Thomas More Society and lead counsel in Air Force Officer v. Austin, said in a release. Its just under 4,100. Because of those peoples religious beliefs and religious convictions. The first lawsuit to garner national attention, filed in Texas late last year, made a splash because its plaintiffs include SEALs, among the most elite of the militarys special operations forces. Hey you have the Friday night shift, right? In the filing, attorneys argue that the plaintiffs are facing criminal conviction and dishonorable discharge, which would strip them of any veterans benefits. He spoke with a reporter last Wednesday but did . There is no military exclusion from our Constitution. "It hasn't done it yet. Based on his Roman Catholic Christian faith and absolute opposition to abortion, he cannot accept a vaccine that has been manufactured, or whose efficacy has been tested and proved, using aborted fetal cells, the Florida lawsuit alleges, on behalf of a Coast Guard pilot. . Their lawyers have called a sham with applications being categorically denied., The Defense Department denied the process was onerous and said the Navy has a compelling interest in requiring vaccinations for personnel who often operate for long periods in confined spaces that are ripe breeding grounds for respiratory illnesses.. It is a danger of, you know, the government saying, Well, hey, heres what your faith tradition teaches, you should follow that, " Griffin said. Theres been a lot of great saints that have gone to prison, so Im willing to do that.. On Tuesday, a federal judge granted an injunction against discipline of an Air Force officer whose religious exemption had been denied. The Navy service members in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect,OConnor wrote, adding: The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. And I havent heard of a single Starbucks shutting down. Night shifts arent popular, especially on Friday night, and things like that. The Florida case also expands the arguments past the religious exemption process, citing a handful of other arguments made by COVID-19 vaccine detractors. I think we win under the First Amendment, because you have individualized exemptions with medical exemptions, but not religious exemptions.. Jared Serbu: I want to go back to what you said earlier about the process being a sham, because I want to try and draw how much of an issue that actually is, in these cases. How large is the class? By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square) Military leaders will testify on Tuesday before the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee about the impact of the Department of Defense's COVID-19 vaccine mandate on DOD employees and military service members. Staver believes the Florida case case has a good chance of making it to the Supreme Court, potentially invalidating all government mandates for COVID-19 vaccination. A 5th Circuit panel rejected the Biden administrations request to block the judges order. Tom Temin is host of the Federal Drive and has been providing insight on federal technology and management issues for more than 30 years. And what if this is political ideology masquerading as as religious piety? The Marine Corps confirmed to a California congressman that two of those Marines were preparing to leave the service, while another one is doing a Training With Industry assignment. Another claimant, a Muslim Marine Corps captain, who said that his religious beliefs that require him to abstain from participation in that which is haram forbidden including the destruction and commoditization of innocent human life as exemplified by the use of human fetal cell lines derived from abortions, according to the lawsuit. The soldier and Marine also want their case escalated into a class action lawsuit to take in other military personnel plus Department of Defense contractors. Earlier in the case: Eglin AFB officers part of federal court challenge to military vaccine mandate Related:Motion to halt military COVID-19 vaccine mandate fails; federal trial date set The 18 . And yet people who work and I mean, youre coming in very close proximity with thousands of people per day, hundreds of people per hour. Indeed, Defendants employed such measures during the prior year before COVID-19 vaccines were made widely available.. -- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. And they recognize that theres almost a presumption of belief. The population of people seeking religious accommodations now is fairly small.. The Navy lawsuit is one of several ongoing legal challenges to the military branches' policies on religious exemptions to the DoD COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Trident Order #12 also implemented the COVID-19 vaccine mandate at the command level for Naval Special Warfare forces, setting a deadline of compliance for October 17, 2021," the SEALs' legal team . Produced by Will Reid , Rob Szypko . 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Theyre not pleasant. This disparity of treatment between medical and religious exemptions was constitutionally prohibited,OConnor said: As a brief preview, the vaccine mandate fails strict scrutiny. And so all of them have requested religious accommodations from the vaccine mandate, which is, of course, something that DoD regulations and even federal law, clearly permit and allow. The vaccine mandate divided Americans and has remained a contentious political issue. Dr. Lee Merritt, a self-described Navy surgeon, stated during an . The plaintiffs argue that violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Theres yet another lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the militarys COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Unlike VARES that is questioned a lot by the totally compromised medical establishment for accuracy, the U.S. military DMED (Defense Medical Epidemiology Database) reporting system is only submitted by military doctors and qualifies every single ICD (International Classification of Diseases) code in the military for Tricare billing to Humana Insurance covering over 6 million military personal. Well, the good news is the law is set up so that the government actually can win those cases, when all they have to do is demonstrate that they have a compelling interest. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that federal court injunctions against the mandate are still needed, in part because decisions on deployments and assignments can still be made based on vaccination status. Fox News U.S. Theyre not following their own regulations. This piece originally appeared in The Daily Signal. President Biden declared "the pandemic is over," yet is still pushing to discharge thousands of religious service members for their objections to taking the COVID-19 vaccine. More than a dozen unidentified U.S. service members have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Defense Department's COVID-19 vaccine order, saying they have natural immunity from. The latest class action targets the Air Forces religious accommodation process, arguing that process is set up in such a way that getting a religious exemption to the vaccine is almost impossible. The Justice Department intends to appeal the Texas ruling, while a temporary injunction in the Florida case expires Friday. On Monday, Heather Hacker, an attorney for the Navy personnel, said the situation could be seen as worse now for them now that the older mandate policy has been rescinded, because current policy does not provide for a sailors religious objections to the vaccine to be considered when deployment or assignment decisions are made. If the court certifies the class does the class become all unvaccinated airmen or everyone whos been denied a religious exemption? The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), it doesnt, the sincerity issue is what everybody seems to be concerned with, right? The Supreme Court is historically, they only address the legal issues that are brought before them, right. Jared Serbu: Yeah, theres a ton. The fetal cells were not used to produce either vaccine, National Geographic reported last fall. The government responded to the lawsuit by pointing out that immunization requirements are common in the military beginning with the Continental Army under George Washington and that vaccines and are essential to preventing the transmission of diseases in close quarters. The Navy began issuing guidance to sailors earlier this month. 2:14:14 Pentagon exploring back pay for troops kicked out of military over vaccine mandate. Just because the plaintiffs identify as a member of one religion or another doesnt mean they need to follow every tradition, according to Griffin, the former Coast Guard lawyer, nor would they need to justify why they are religiously opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine in particular. Ross said such questions were speculative and not at issue in the case before the court. The vaccine mandate for military personnel was put in place in August, with a deadline of Sept. 15. Researchers cultivate these cells for generations, using their derivatives to create or test all manner of pharmaceutical products. Otherwise, the courts are going to be flooded with thousands of lawsuits, he said. Still, the organization said Covaxin is still a safe and effective product. The three coronavirus vaccines currently available in the United Statesthe Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and, as of Saturday, the Johnson & Johnson versionsare approved on "emergency use. A federal judge in Cincinnati has expanded a temporary exemption to a Department of Defense COVID-19 vaccine mandate to cover thousands of service members in the U.S. Air Force and Space Force,. This whole thing is really unprecedented, right? And yet they say, you know what, we now believe that its okay, for our employees to not be vaccinated, its okay for our customers to not be vaccinated. The problem here is that the government is simply unwilling to offer any compromises. Lawmakers expressed frustration with the news . The content of this website reflects the current thinking of the United States Department of Health and Human Services on the topics addressed and does not create or confer any rights for or on any person and does not operate to bind the Department or the public. (U.S. Navy) Two service members filed a class action lawsuit against Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to halt a mandate that all troops receive the coronavirus vaccine and create an exemption. In fact, as of Dec. 17, the religious accommodation requests of at least 29 of the 35 naval plaintiffs had been flatly denied. The Texas lawsuit also states the plaintiffs are willing to continue to wear masks, social distance and take mandatory COVID-19 tests, rather than get vaccinated. Rachel Cohen joined Air Force Times as senior reporter in March 2021. According data submitted in the Florida case on Feb. 8: The services have declined to provide any details about the circumstances of the religious approvals, but both lawsuits allege that at least one of those Marines is due to leave service later this year. Mike Barry:Well, I mean, thats the beauty of the way that the law works, right? Just because of the just incredibly political nature of, of all of it, from the virus to the vaccine to the mandates, Marshall Griffin, a retired Coast Guard judge advocate who now practices privately, told Military Times on Monday. WASHINGTON (AP) The military services are still reviewing possible discipline of troops who refused the order to get the COVID-19 vaccine, defense officials told Congress on Tuesday, and they provided few details on how many of those who were forced out of the military would like to return.

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