Navy Times By Meghann Myers 2/18/2022
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.
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.
“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 lawsuit is one of two that have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the military has imposed mandatory vaccination deadlines that have since lapsed for all of the services and their components, save the Army National Guard and Army Reserve.
The goal, representatives for the plaintiffs say, is to at least secure religious exemptions for their clients, but potentially see a Supreme Court ruling that would apply to all service members.
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. The Justice Department intends to appeal the Texas ruling, while a temporary injunction in the Florida case expires Friday.
“I’m 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. “I think we win under the First Amendment, because you have individualized exemptions with medical exemptions, but not religious exemptions.”
What’s at issue?What the government will have to prove, in both cases, is that while it’s 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.
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.
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 Navy’s special operations forces.
More:
https://www.navytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/02/18/could-the-supreme-court-strike-down-the-militarys-vaccination-mandate/
