Military Refuse Vaccine - Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Shane Miller prepares COVID-19 vaccines at Naval Base San Diego's fitness center on Jan. 8, 2020, as part of Operation Warp Speed. (MC1 Julio Rivera/Navy)
More than 60 service members have filed lawsuits against the U.S. military.
Military Refuse Vaccine
They argue that their 1st Amendment rights are violated because their deeply held religious beliefs prevent them from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Class Action Lawsuit Over Navy Sailors Refusal Of Covid Vaccine
"With much prayer and thought, the plaintiffs sought wisdom, understanding and guidance on the right decisions to be made regarding the COVID-19 vaccines, and the plaintiffs were convicted by the Holy Spirit to approve one of the three current vaccines against these teachings. of Scripture and would be a sin,” according to a Florida lawsuit first filed in late 2021, then amended on February 7 with other plaintiffs.
The case is one of two that have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the military imposed mandatory vaccination deadlines that have since passed for all service members and their components, from the Army National Guard to the Army Reserve.
The goal, the plaintiffs' representatives say, is to at least secure religious exemptions for their clients, but possibly find a Supreme Court ruling that will apply to all service members.
Both cases are in a pending phase, with judges ruling against any disciplinary action for the vaccine refusal while the government responds to requests for information. The Justice Department plans to appeal the Texas decision, while a temporary ruling in the Florida case expires Friday.
Military Weighs Penalties For Those Who Refuse Covid Vaccine
"I'm pretty sure this case is going to the Supreme Court," Matt Staver -- whose Liberty Counsel is representing the plaintiffs in the Florida case -- told Military Times on Tuesday. "I think we win under the First Amendment, because you have personal exemptions with medical exemptions, but not religious exemptions."
What the government will have to prove, in both cases, is that although thousands of medical and administrative exemptions have been granted - although many of them temporary - that the high bar for approving religious exemptions is intact to remain in power. is necessary.
They will also have to make the case that vaccinating, or involuntarily discharging, any service member is the "least restrictive means" of protecting the force against COVID-19, rather than masking or social distancing — or in some cases, grandfathering soldiers who have deserved. Some immunity after contracting COVID-19.
The first case to gain national attention, filed in Texas late last year, made headlines because the plaintiffs include SEALs, among the military's most elite special operations forces.
Almost All Active Duty Service Members Receive Vaccines > U.s. Department Of Defense > Defense Department News
All told, the case includes 26 SEALs from the original complaint, plus five special warfare crews, five divers and one munitions technician who joined the case in late January.
Their objections to vaccination fall into one of four categories, according to their complaint, including opposition to abortion and the use of fetal cell lines in pharmaceutical development, the belief that body modification violates their religious principles, the "direct instructions, God" of not taking Vaccination, or refusal to inject "trace amounts of animal cells into the human body."
The primary protest centers around fetal stem cells, which may or may not have resulted from an aborted pregnancy. Researchers cultivate these cells for generations, using their derivatives to create or test all kinds of medical products.
Simply, no actual fetal cells were used in the development of any of the COVID-19 vaccines – the cells in question were replicated by scientists, in laboratories, from tissue that had already been harvested.
Congress Ends Covid 19 Vaccine Mandate For Us Troops
The lawsuit mentions other vaccines the soldiers received as children or while on duty — chicken pox, rubella and hepatitis A shots are all required — that used harvested fetal cells in the development. They also mention a host of common drugs that also use stem cells, including Tylenol, Advil/Motrin, Aspirin, Tums, Pepto Bismol, Benadryl, Sudafed and Claritin.
There is also no new religious conversion in these cases, or simply the possibility that they did not already know about the role of replicated fetal stem cells in pharmaceutical development, which would explain why they have never objected to vaccines or drugs before.
But there may be a good reason for this. Some religious exemption applications have stated that service members did not know about the use of fetal stem cells before all the controversy surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine, but for the purposes of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, they did not. Explain yourself
"This thing is really unique, right? Just because of the extremely political nature of everything, from the virus to the vaccine to the orders," Marshall Griffin, a retired Coast Guard attorney general now in private practice, told Military Times on Monday. "I think it's all just an ideological goal, and a questionable one."
Army: Guard Vaccine Refusers Banned From Training, Drill
The case also mentions no established precedent regarding vaccines in religious traditions. Most clients express some form of Christian faith, although most denominations have no official ban on vaccination.
"People don't believe that staying true to their beliefs means putting themselves or others at unnecessary risk," according to the filing. "On the contrary, they see life - whether their own or that of their comrades - as sacred and worth protecting."
That includes protections from adverse action while their waivers are pending, a key part of the complaint, according to one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, who claims the plaintiffs were fired, flagged for promotion or other forms were blocked in time. Cancellation process.
Mike Berry, a former naval judge advocate and now vice president at the First Freedom Institute, which represents all the things that, you know, the Navy was doing to harass and punish sailors - we basically wanted to stop all of that. Texas prosecutors, told Military Times on Wednesday.
New Us Military Covid Cases Lowest Since June As 1st Vaccine Deadlines Approach
The judge agreed, issuing an anti-disciplinary order to the sailors on January 3. The government has since filed an appeal saying it plans to appeal the decision.
It costs millions to train new recruits to refuse vaccination. Hundreds of students were sent to basic training without vaccines and continued to refuse them, marking them for release.
The Texas lawsuit claims that the Navy Department completely denies religious requirements, and obstructs the process.
"It was just a bunch of window dressing on what was really a foregone conclusion ... 100% of religious exemption requests were granted," Barry said.
Military Weighs Penalties For Those Who Refuse Covid Vaccine
So far, no members of the Army or Air Force have received religious exemptions, although nine Airmen and three Marines have been approved. The Navy announced Wednesday that it has waived one member of the Individual Ready Reserve, a non-certified service member who must be vaccinated if he comes under orders.
The Military Times team explains what the Pentagon's upcoming mandate to get COVID-19 vaccines means for service members.
Service officials declined to provide any details about the terms of the religious endorsements, but both cases claim that at least one of the Marines will leave the service later this year.
The Navy has confirmed to a California congressman that two of the Marines are set to leave the service while another is serving an industry-linked training assignment.
Here's The Army Rule For Vaccine Refusals, Which Service Leaders Brushed Up On This Summer
Basically, when the Marines applied for exemption for religious reasons, they already had a much more precise administrative right for soldiers to leave the service soon or leave their units now, which would lead to their approval.
The Texas case also states that plaintiffs are willing to accept masks, social distancing and mandatory testing for COVID-19 in lieu of vaccination.
"Plaintiffs therefore object to safety measures that reduce the transmission of ear Stock Stock clipart, said themselves, Plaintiff, safety, 2019, 2019. "In fact, the guardians used such measures in the first year before the COVID-19 vaccines were widely available."
The Florida case, in a 187-page complaint, takes more precautions. In the plea, attorneys argue that the plaintiffs face criminal convictions and dishonesty charges that would disqualify them from any veterans benefits.
Marines Kick Out 206 Troops For Refusing Covid 19 Vaccine
"Telling prosecutors that they must accept or receive a shot they accept based on their deeply held religious beliefs, or face court-martial, disgrace, and other life-altering disciplinary measures, shames the victims of these heroes." According to the case.
Although strong, this statement is not true. All military services have issued vaccination refusal policies, none of them with judicial or non-judicial charges for simply remaining unvaccinated.
The prospect of dishonorable waivers has been a worry for some opposed to mandatory vaccination, but that type of waiver can only be handed down with a court-martial conviction.
Inconvenient discharges go off the table as military discharges begin to waive COVID vaccinations Only honorable or public discharges under honorable conditions will be allowed under the new defense authorization law.
Marine Corps Discharges 103 Service Members For Refusing Covid 19 Vaccine
The Florida case began in 2021 with a Navy and Marine Corps officer, but soon grew to 36 clients from all branches of the military.
Military drone range, laser range finder military, military range bags, military range targets, long range military radio, military radio range, military range finder, military long range binoculars, range rover military discount, military range rover, range of military drones, military range bag
0 Comments