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Just three days later, he issued a far more sweeping order granting 4,095 service members a religious exemption from the COVID vaccine. A federal appellate judge has dealt another blow to the military's coronavirus vaccine mandate by allowing a high-profile class-action lawsuit against the Air Force to move forward. 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 only difference is really is that each branch of the military has their own internal regulations and policies for how they adjudicate these things. And I have yet to hear of a single flight being canceled because there was a COVID outbreak at 30,000 feet. Need help accessing the FCC Public File due to a disability? Mike Barry: Probably not at the Supreme Court level. They argue that their 1st Amendment rights are being infringed upon, because their sincerely held religious beliefs prevent them from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Each of those shots also involves cell tissue derived from fetuses, as does one version of the rabies vaccine. Mike Barry:No, I think what happens is they become much smaller cases, right? Washington Technology Power Breakfast: Cyber Command planning intelligence center, TSP contractor promises more improvements, for other communicable diseases and infections, FOIA backlogs on the rise after record number of requests, Revived bills would alter feds payment obligations during shutdowns, federal first responders pensions, VA launches equity task force to address disparity in benefits decisions based on race, White House $1.6B COVID fraud plan gives federal watchdogs increased staffing, VA deputy secretary, leader on EHR rollout and customer experience, is stepping down. . Plaintiffs, therefore, do not object to safety measures that reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace, it reads. 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the Navy personnel, said the situation could be seen as worse now for them now that the older mandate policy has been rescinded, because current policy does not provide for a sailors religious objections to the vaccine to be considered when deployment or assignment decisions are made. The Marine Corps had fielded 3,500 religious waiver requests, granting three, in addition to about 250 medical waivers and 400 other administrative approvals. Right? Essentially, while the Marines applied for exemptions on religious grounds, they were already entitled to a much more straightforward administrative exemption for troops soon to leave service or not currently with their units, which is likely the reason they were approved. Our lawsuit is certainly centered on religious exemption, but our lawsuit is broader than that to block the mandate in general of a non-FDA approved product, Staver said. Kevin Stitt has pushed back on the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the military that would apply to the Oklahoma National Guard. ), the Washington Post, and others. Right? Plaintiffs do not believe that staying true to their faith means exposing themselves or others to unnecessary risk, according to the filing. The Florida filing also spends much more time on the biographies of the complainants. The question is, whats the bigger risk to readiness: Discharging skilled, expensively trained service members for refusing to get vaccinated, or allowing them to continue serving with the potential to become infected with COVID-19, experience serious illness and potentially long-lasting side effects? Pope Francis has called vaccination against COVID-19 a moral obligation and an act of love., Frequently people let themselves be influenced by the ideology of the moment, often bolstered by baseless information or poorly documented facts, he said in January, adding that vaccines are not a magical means of healing, yet surely they represent, in addition to other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease.. While it allowed service members to apply for religious exemptions to the mandate, it has not granted a single one. And to say, basically, no, you will do this because we said so and if you dont, were gonna kick you out. As of Tuesday, the Air Force had denied about 6,800 initial religious waiver requests and 3,600 appeals, and has not ruled on nearly 3,500 more cases. The new policy guidance to the services makes no mention of reinstating service members who were separated from the military for refusing the shot. From this foundation they make studied and reasonable decisions about what is good and what is not good or may not be good for their bodies.. Two Eglin Air Force base officers are among the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for U.S. military personnel. The Heritage Foundation, a petitioner in the case challenging the private-sector vaccine mandate,has asked the courtto invalidate the governments order. If you want to swap with me, and they do that through the employer, or their employer offers that. Kevin Stitt with Fox News ads DoD, for its part, settled its own policy with a memo from Assistant Defense Secretary for Health Affairs Terry Adirim last fall. And is there somewhere else we can assign them where maybe theyre at less risk of of COVID transmission or they start looking at the data, right, the actual CDC data and the COVID day they start look kicking it around and saying, You know what? Any sailors who submitted a religious exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine can continue in the Navy under the injunction, according to NAVADMIN 102/22. OConnor ruled that the blanket denial of their religious waiver requests amounted to a violation of the service members rights under the First Amendment andthe Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Mike Barry:Well, I mean, thats the beauty of the way that the law works, right? 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. The first military COVID-19 vaccine mandate will take effect in November. Punishing SEALs for simply asking for a religious accommodation is purely vindictive and punitive. Hes one of the attorneys representing the airmen challenging the mandate, and he spoke more to Jared Serbu on theFederal Drive with Tom Temin. But the administration won at least a temporary, partial victory last March when the Supreme Court approved a partial stay. The order allowed the Navy to consider the sailors vaccination status in making decisions on deployment, assignment and other operational issues while the case plays out. Its just such an inappropriate position for the government to be in.. I think that a process that is not a sham looks a little bit something like the military regardless of what branch were talking about, takes an honest look and says okay, what is this persons job or their function? The judge recognized that when he granted our [temporary restraining order] on Feb. 2 because toward the end, he said the public has an interest also in this because these are courageous skilled, individuals who are not easily replaceable, Staver said. The "rule" and the ways it will be fought 1:43:40 How to fight the NFA and its unconstitutional rule about barrel lengths. 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. I know, off the top of my head, the number in the Navy is somewhere near 4,100. But Islamic tradition does not discourage vaccination, and doesnt forbid abortion before 17 weeks gestation, with even more leeway if the health of the mother is in jeopardy or if there are life-threatening fetal abnormalities. That is especially true when the government imposes a choice between ones job and ones religious belief. 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. The U.S . And lets start by talking a bit about your clients, where they are in the Air Force vaccine exemption process and what led you to file the suit? And so of course, that means you have to bring different lawsuits on behalf of people, depending on what branch of the military that theyre in. 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. 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. The policy does allow commanders to "implement Health Protection Measures at any time or manner deemed necessary in support of operational safety and effectiveness." So if they work Sunday afternoon, or if theyre scheduled to work a particular Sunday afternoon, they say, Well, Im a Sabbath observer on Sundays. 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. The temporary restraining order means the military cannot punish airmen and Space Force guardians whose application for a religious exemption to one of the federally endorsed vaccines was denied or is still being processed. Researchers cultivate these cells for generations, using their derivatives to create or test all manner of pharmaceutical products. Members of the U.S. military who haven't been vaccinated against COVID-19 are starting to face the consequences. Their objections to the vaccine fall into one of four categories, according to their complaint, including opposition to abortion and the use of fetal cell lines in pharmaceutical development, belief that body modification violates their religious principles, direct, divine instruction not to receive the vaccine, or declining to inject trace amounts of animal cells into ones body.. A 5th Circuit panel rejected the Biden administrations request to block the judges order. The Pentagon formally dropped the requirement in January following a December vote in Congress to end the mandate. 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. So I think that if one of these cases does end up in front of the Supreme Court, it will probably be addressed just on the narrow vaccine issue. Only the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is manufactured using fetal cell lines. 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. The military's COVID-19 vaccine was repealed after the National Defense Authorization Act passed and was signed into law this month. Like the other service branches, the Navy required all active-duty service members to be fully vaccinated before Nov. 28 or risk a full range of disciplinary action. "Former Soldiers may petition the Army Discharge Review Board and the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to request corrections to their records," the service's press release said. 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. Everyone who joins the military must receive a slate of several vaccines to enter, including chickenpox, rubella and hepatitis A. 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. More:Dark money group targets Oklahoma Gov. For a population accustomed to having very little power over their personal decisions where they live, what they wear, how they cut their hair, how much they weigh the opportunity to have some control over their medical decisions is an enormous discovery. A dozen U.S. Air Force officers have filed a lawsuit . 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. Three of the event's witnesses doctors Jay Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorf, and Marty Makary are part of a small group of medical experts known as the Norfolk Group. Ross said such questions were speculative and not at issue in the case before the court. The next stop in the litigation is likely to be an appeal by the Department of Defense and the Biden administration to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. The plaintiffs argue that violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment. Biden appointee behind unlawful military vaccine mandate to step down. But what we cant do is say, well, because they ruled this way, in this case, this is how theyre going to rule in all cases. And they recognize that theres almost a presumption of belief. So our lawsuit is really predicated on on the argument that this is all a sham, that the Air Force is not following the Constitution. But it may not take a lawsuit for the issue to change the environment when it comes to mandatory vaccination. death from COVID-19 vaccines administered after the declaration ends would be addressed in court under tort law unless the COVID-19 vaccines are added to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP; 42 U.S.C. New family, former Corvias employee join lawsuit against Fort . Each week, Defense Reporter Jared Serbu speaks with the managers of the federal government's largest department. Lt. Col. Edward Stapanon, a Catholic instructor pilot at the 435th Fighter Training Squadron in Texas, said he requested retirement twice but was turned down because he hasnt finished out an extension of his active duty service commitment that ends in 2024. Otherwise, the courts are going to be flooded with thousands of lawsuits, he said. Hey you have the Friday night shift, right? 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. Because how do you avoid getting to the point where anyone can deny or refuse any lawful order by claiming that they have a sincerely held religious belief that would be encumbered by it? Lawyers for a group of Navy SEALS and other Navy personnel who refuse to be vaccinated for religious reasons told a 5th U.S. U.S. Military Service Members with Natural Immunity File Lawsuit over COVID Vaccine Mandate. So for example, in a different context, somebody who says that theyre a Sabbath observer, and they cannot work on the Sabbath, but that theyre willing to trade ships with somebody, most of the cases Ive seen, theyre actually willing to take, what most people consider be a less favorable shift. I dont think that the precedent is going to be that big of one, Griffin, the former Coast Guard lawyer, said. 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. Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek declined to comment on ongoing litigation and how it may affect how the service handles religious accommodation requests. Still, the organization said Covaxin is still a safe and effective product. -- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. 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. In December, the Air Force announced it had discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID . How large is the class? A group of lawsuit plaintiffs, including four Air Force officers and a Secret Service agent, have asked a federal court to block the Biden administration's coronavirus vaccination mandates,. They will also have to make the case that vaccinating, or involuntarily discharging, every service member is the least restrictive means of keeping the force safe from COVID-19, rather than enforcing masking or social distancing or in some cases, grandfathering in troops who acquired some immunity after catching COVID-19. In one of manyongoing federal lawsuitschallenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates across the country, Judge Reed OConnor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a group of Navy SEALs and Naval Special Warfare personnel a resounding victory Jan. 3 inU.S. Navy SEALs 1-26 v. Biden. Feb. 23, 2023. 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. The . 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 . 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OConnormade note of thisin his order, calling the process for seeking a religious exemption nothing more than theater, stating that the Navy merely rubber-stamps each denial, and stressing that the record overwhelmingly demonstrates that the Navys religious-accommodation process is an exercise in futility.. Johnson & Johnson uses cells replicated from a fetus aborted in 1985 to produce its vaccine, but those cells are filtered out from the final product. The Catholic Churchs policy on derived fetal cells has been clear for decades: the sin of abortion is so far removed in pharmaceutical development that a Catholic is not violating any principles by getting vaccinated. The Supreme Court is historically, they only address the legal issues that are brought before them, right. (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. 11. And our clients are, theyre stationed in various locations, quite a few of them are here in Texas. But if they eventually get consolidated in the Supreme Court grants cert [writs of certiorari] on something that considers the issue more broadly, would you expect that well get a case or a ruling that goes beyond the narrow issue of vaccines and gives the military some guidance as to how RFRA and broader religious accommodation issues apply to the military? The government really cant scrutinize belief very far.. The primary protest centers around fetal stem cells, which may or may not have originated with an aborted pregnancy. In response to Military.com stating that the COVID-19 "vaccines have some rare side effects, including heart inflammation that has affected at least 22 service members, according to a study from the JAMA Network," an attorney working with U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, and whistle blowers in the U.S. military are pushing back against . Other federal court challenges to various COVID-19 vaccine mandates are ongoing. 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 Biden Administration has previously admitted that it is not the federal government's role to enforce vaccine mandates. Same thing on airplanes, right? It was just a bunch of window dressing, on what was really a foregone conclusion of 100% of religious exemption requests were going to be disapproved, Berry said. WASHINGTON The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the. Adam Rawnsley. It is not yet clear how the various services will handle pending lawsuits that sprang up in the years following the Pentagon's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. But Im willing to do that. Theyre not following their own regulations. 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This piece originally appeared in The Daily Signal. Of course, that came because of a federal judges ruling. 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,. The Navy granted another 500 administrative exemptions, including temporary waivers for sailors planning to leave the service or in the middle of a permanent change-of-station move, for example. Complainants push back on the militarys position that remaining unvaccinated endangers the force and undermines national security, since the vast majority of troops have received all of a one- or two-shot regimen. Theres been a lot of great saints that have gone to prison, so Im willing to do that.. 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. On Jan. 10, the DOD officially rescinded its Aug. 24, 2021, and Nov. 30, 2021, memoranda mandating that all members of the U.S. military, including the National Guard and Ready Reserves, take the emergency use authorization COVID-19 shots or face discharge and other disciplinary measures. Read Next: The Navy's Top Enlisted Sailor Is Ready for You to Ask Him Anything. In the Navy, none of more than 4,000 religious exemptions had been approved, but there were about 252 temporary and 11 permanent medical exemptions. I mean, all of it is just fraught with ideological purpose, and suspected purpose.. Attorneys for the unvaccinated Navy personnel argued in briefs to the 5th Circuit that Austins memo and other Defense Department actions show that the Navy still intends to treat unvaccinated personnel like second-class citizens because of their religious beliefs.. 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. "I am proud of the efforts the Department of the Army has taken to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," Wormuth said. So everywhere else in society has been able to figure this out, but our military hasnt because they take such an iron fisted, draconian approach to everything. 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 judge agreed, issuing an injunction against discipline for the sailors on Jan. 3. The lawsuit emerges as the latest development in an ongoing fight between state leaders and the federal government as Gov. Until any harm is remedied, according to Bruns, the case is still active. Ho and Judge Kyle Duncan noted that the administration had only reluctantly ended the military mandate after December congressional action, but Ross assured the panel that there are no plans to bring back the requirement. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.