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? But nevertheless, how many, I fly almost on a weekly basis for my job. 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 . Mike Barry:No, I think what happens is they become much smaller cases, right? In one of many ongoing federal lawsuits challenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates across the country, Judge Reed O'Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a group . 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 . Military officials announced this week that, after months of warnings, they have . msn back to msn home news Skip To Navigation And, in fact, the Department of Defense allows medical exemptions and administrative exemptions from the vaccine. The fetal cells were not used to produce either vaccine, National Geographic reported last fall. The primary protest centers around fetal stem cells, which may or may not have originated with an aborted pregnancy. Im willing to go through that. And usually when somebody is willing to go through those measures, that demonstrates a degree of sincerity. The Air Force Department had received more than 12,000 religious exemption requests, denying over 3,000 of them and with roughly 2,000 still in adjudication. While it allowed service members to apply for religious exemptions to the mandate, it has not granted a single one. 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The Texas lawsuit argues that the Navy Department is blanketly denying all religious requests, making the process a sham. And yet were short, were saying that were having a hard time recruiting people. Because of those peoples religious beliefs and religious convictions. A U.S. Navy officer is suing the leaders of the Defense Department and the Navy because they have denied his waiver requests to exempt him from getting the mandated COVID-19 vaccine. 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. Right? The government burdens religion when it put[s] substantial pressure on an adherent to modify his behavior and to violate his beliefs.. "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. VICP provides compensation for injuries and deaths caused by 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. Jared Serbu: Yeah, theres a ton. 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.. The same day the Pentagon set the deadline for the services, several of the branches -- namely the Army and Air Force -- began issuing their guidance, which stated they would remove or correct adverse actions in records related to vaccine refusal. 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. The military's COVID-19 vaccine was repealed after the National Defense Authorization Act passed and was signed into law this month. The new policy guidance to the services makes no mention of reinstating service members who were separated from the military for refusing the shot. "This vaccine mandate is unlawful and does not reflect the Land of the Free," said General O'Connor. 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. The number of exemptions has fluctuated over the last several months as some people decided to get the shots or leave the service instead of seeking accommodation. (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. Overall, scientific evidence indicates that the benefits of vaccines largely . They argue that their. And the way that they are accomplishing their compelling interest is the least restrictive means on the persons religious beliefs. 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. Theres been a lot of great saints that have gone to prison, so Im willing to do that.. That leaves around 14,400 airmen and guardians less protected in the COVID-19 pandemics third year. While it allowed service members to apply for religious exemptions to the mandate, it has not granted a single one. 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 . A dozen U.S. Air Force officers have filed a lawsuit . Im very confident that this case going to the Supreme Court, Mat Staver whose Liberty Counsel represents plaintiffs in the Florida case told Military Times on Tuesday. Nov. 2, 2021. 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. 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. This means that you do not need to prove that your injury was caused by a doctor or the vaccine company's mistake. They become the exception and not the norm. . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Another plaintiff is fighting in court after trying to retire one alternative to vaccination the Air Force offered. The first military COVID-19 vaccine mandate will take effect in November. I think we win under the First Amendment, because you have individualized exemptions with medical exemptions, but not religious exemptions.. The suit was initially filed by a group of Navy SEALs but later expanded to include all vaccine-refusing sailors. The Navy has, however, granted medical exemption requests submitted by other personnel. 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. U.S. Military Service Members with Natural Immunity File Lawsuit over COVID Vaccine Mandate. And well be back week after week.. 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. 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. 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. Theyre burdensome, but the person says, But you know what, at the end of the day, Im not have to inject something in my body that violates my religious beliefs. For the Texas case, its more likely those sailors will receive religious exemptions, but that they wont necessarily change the way the military mandates vaccines or reviews exemptions. But the DoD is just saying Nope, we wont even recognize that we wont even consider it, even though they consider natural immunity for other communicable diseases and infections and things like that. Although certain COVID-19 vaccines are associated with a slightly increased risk of blood clotting or heart inflammation, COVID-19 itself is associated with a higher rate of these and other conditions. Kevin Stitt with Fox News ads So that, right now that number is several thousand. Lawyers are waiting to see if a federal court in Georgia will stop the vaccine mandate nationwide through another class-action preliminary injunction as well. Then in April, the WHO warned that supplier Bharat Biotech had stopped production because of deficiencies in good manufacturing practices.. Assuming, maybe Im assuming too much. All rights reserved. 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,. In fact, as of Dec. 17, the religious accommodation requests of at least 29 of the 35 naval plaintiffs had been flatly denied. I mean, all of it is just fraught with ideological purpose, and suspected purpose.. The lawsuit filed by Air Force members and other federal employees claims that "the US Constitution and numerous federal laws make it unlawful to compel persons to be vaccinated." The plaintiffs. Thats really prohibited by the by the courts considering these types of cases. While powerful, that statement isnt true. Mike Barry is senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit legal group that focuses on religious liberty issues. More than 60 service members have joined lawsuits against the U.S. government, alleging that the military's process for awarding religious vaccine exemptions is a sham. Night shifts arent popular, especially on Friday night, and things like that. 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. Plaintiffs do not believe that staying true to their faith means exposing themselves or others to unnecessary risk, according to the filing. The latest lawsuit challenging DoD's COVID-19 vaccine mandate says the Air Force's process makes religious accommodations almost impossible to get. 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? COVID-19 vaccines are proven to be very safe and effective at preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Through much prayer and reflection, Plaintiffs have sought wisdom, understanding, and guidance on the proper decisions to make concerning these COVID-19 vaccines, and Plaintiffs have been convicted by the Holy Spirit that accepting any of the three currently available vaccines is against the teachings of Scripture and would be a sin, according to a Florida lawsuit first filed in late 2021, then amended on Feb. 7 with additional plaintiffs. The latest data from the military show that roughly 30,000 active-duty service members remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, despite a Defense Department mandate issued in August and deadlines. 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. FILE - Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Nov. 16, 2022. The population of people seeking religious accommodations now is fairly small.. That is especially true when the government imposes a choice between ones job and ones religious belief. 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. The Navy began issuing guidance to sailors earlier this month. The Florida filing also spends much more time on the biographies of the complainants. 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. Thomas Bruns, a Cincinnati-based attorney with Bruns, Connell, Vollmar & Armstrong representing the service members, told Military.com on Monday that the service members in that case are promised full relief from any harms caused by the mandate. The government has since filed a notice that it plans to appeal the decision. It is a danger of, you know, the government saying, Well, hey, heres what your faith tradition teaches, you should follow that, " Griffin said. Hey you have the Friday night shift, right? Most of the plaintiffs express some sort of Christian faith, though the vast majority of denominations have no formal ban on vaccination. Dr Terry Adirim, the government bureaucrat behind the infamous and unlawful Pentagon vaccine mandate, will "leave her post in the coming days," reports FedScoop. Same thing on airplanes, right? And they recognize that theres almost a presumption of belief. Federal News Network's DoD Cloud Exchange: From enterprise to the tactical edge discover how the Defense Department and military services intend to advance their use of cloud technologies. And in one instance, I saw one of the head people for recruiting in the military said, Were having a really hard time identifying, basically people who are eligible to serve in the military. 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. Editors note: This story has been updated with information from the hearing. Theres a case to be made for turning these lawsuits into class action matters, Staver said, so that individual service members dont have to sue or just another case. And they have different ranks, different different job responsibilities in the Air Force, a number of them are actually pilots in the Air Force. Lawyers for a group of Navy SEALS and other Navy personnel who refuse to be vaccinated for religious reasons told a 5th U.S. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. All rights reserved. 2:41 . And that is textbook discrimination, right? The Army reported about 1,300 religious requests, none of which have been approved, as well as six medical exemptions. The service members who filed the lawsuit represent more than 350 collective years of military service, and more than 100 combat deployments. The military across the board is discriminating discriminating against people of faith. They dont offer what are, in the legal speak, we call advisory opinions. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.). Our military, I mean, you can open any news feed that you want. It also allows them to restrict sailors' movement "in order to comply with host nation quarantine regulations.". 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. Theyre usually willing to accept that and say, look, yeah, Im happy to. 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 . Theyre not following their own regulations. "I am proud of the efforts the Department of the Army has taken to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic," Wormuth said. 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. Jared Serbu: Mike, thanks for being here. Troops who refuse mandatory COVID-19 vaccines will likely also face courts-martial for the same offense, said Zaid, who represented Task & Purpose in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to force . The Marine Corps separated 165 Marines over the past week due to their refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19. There is no military exclusion from our Constitution. In the Ohio case, 2nd Lt. Hunter Doster of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and more than a dozen other plaintiffs argue the Air Force is forcing them to lose their livelihoods or violate their religious beliefs by receiving vaccines they say are impure or have ties to abortion. Jared Serbu: This case seems remarkably similar to another case that I think First Liberty was also counsel on with a group of Navy SEALs before the very same judge, I believe too. I mean, this is quickly becoming a national security issue for our nation. (Susan Walsh/AP, File). Need help accessing the FCC Public File due to a disability? Many religious exemption applications have explained that the service members werent aware of the use of fetal stem cells prior to all of the controversy over the COVID-19 vaccine, but for the purposes of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, they dont have to explain themselves. Sixty-seven percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated. The chief of Irans nuclear program, Mohammad Eslami, acknowledged the findings of the IAEA report. However, in a strange turn of events, while Bolsonaro was eating Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes in Orlando, a group of Bolsonaristas (supporters of Bolsonaro) attacked the Brazilian Supreme Court, Congress, and Presidential Palace in Brasilia and called for a military coup.Lula blamed Bolsonaro personally for the attacks; Moraes quickly moved to suspend Brasilia's governor and security chief . The Florida case also expands the arguments past the religious exemption process, citing a handful of other arguments made by COVID-19 vaccine detractors. We are hemorrhaging people like crazy, and were having a really hard time recruiting capable people to join our military. The US military has approved religious exemptions to its Covid-19 vaccine mandate for 15 service members out of approximately 16,000 requests, according to the latest data from the services. 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. Yes, many of them have brought that and its a rubber stamp rejection, he said. "Marines will defer to Combatant Command policies regarding deployments.". The Texas case has smaller aspirations purposely, Berry said. At 1,038, the Marine Corps leads the military branches for the most separations. 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. President Joe Biden signed the. So if you can find a way to accommodate somebodys religious beliefs, in a less burdensome way right, a way thats less obstructive or cumbersome on their religious exercise, then if the person is really sincere in their religious beliefs, theyll usually accept that. 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. The service branches must notify the Pentagon that they've made the changes no later than March 17. We took a very intentional approach of maintaining a laser-like focus on religious liberty, because we believe that that is the strongest legal basis, he said. And our clients are, theyre stationed in various locations, quite a few of them are here in Texas. Until any harm is remedied, according to Bruns, the case is still active. According to the First Liberty Institute, the public interest law firm representing the service members, each of the denials appeared to be identical, suggesting the Navy had not taken any of the religious exemption requests seriously. 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. There are fresh concerns that public support for ongoing military assistance may be waning. The Pentagon formally dropped the requirement in January following a December vote in Congress to end the mandate. Quite the contrary, they view life whether their own or that of their fellow servicemembers as sacred and deserving protection.. 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. Its just under 4,100. Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. 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. 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 Pentagon has not provided any public updates or said when the formal policy will be issued. 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. 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. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members. The Marine Corps had fielded 3,500 religious waiver requests, granting three, in addition to about 250 medical waivers and 400 other administrative approvals. The Coast Guard issued guidance Monday announcing it was "taking action to remove" all administrative remark entries related to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate from reserve and active-duty records. 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. Both cases are in a wait-and-see phase, where judges have granted injunctions against any discipline for vaccine refusal while the government responds to requests for information. And in fact, he said, the exemption process is fraught in and of itself. Is there any assurance on the record, that there will be no deployment decisions based on vaccination? Judge James Ho, one of three judges hearing the case asked Department of Justice lawyer Casen Ross. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly. 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. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), it doesnt, the sincerity issue is what everybody seems to be concerned with, right? Theyre basically saying, Nope, the vaccine is the only way that were going to allow you to continue to remain in the service. And one of the things I forgot to mention was the whole concept of natural immunity. The Justice Department intends to appeal the Texas ruling, while a temporary injunction in the Florida case expires Friday. Right? Lawmakers expressed frustration with the news . 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. Read all Military Times coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here, Tens of thousands of part-time soldiers face discharge for missing COVID vax deadline, Federal judge shields another unvaccinated airman from punishment, New vaccine may be option for troops with religious concerns, Bids to weaken military COVID vaccine mandate stall in Congress, Veterans Affairs drops mask requirement for all agency medical offices, Officials OK some hand and neck tattoos for airmen, Guardians, Perennial pilot shortage puts Air Force in precarious position, Healthy eating on a budget for busy military spouses, The impossible choice facing many of Americas military families, Tax scams How to report them Money Minute, Capitol Hill weighs action on two controversial topics: medical marijuana and abortion, Lockheed wins hypersonics contract | Defense Dollars, Go inside a secret nuclear fallout bunker sealed for decades, Another Air Force fleet grounded over fears plane tails may fall off, Pentagon orders engine vibration fix for entire F-35 fleet worldwide, Minot firings due to failed nuclear safety inspection, Air Force advisers study use of satellites for tracking moving targets.

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