Tag: religious exemptions

Appeals Court Upholds Connecticut Ban on Religious Exemptions

The Center Square

A federal appeals court has upheld a 2021 Connecticut law banning religious exemptions for immunization requirements for schools, colleges and early education, but critics of the restrictions are vowing to take their case to the Supreme Court.

In the 2-1 ruling issued on Friday, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that rejected a lawsuit challenging the repeal of the state’s long-held religious exemptions to childhood vaccines. 

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Healthcare Workers Win $10.3 Million Settlement in Class Action Lawsuit over COVID Vaccine Mandate

Susan Berry, PhD

The nation’s first class action lawsuit for healthcare workers fighting COVID vaccine mandates has led to a $10.3 million settlement agreement, filed Friday, for the workers who were denied religious exemptions from the COVID shot mandate and terminated when they did not comply.

Liberty Counsel settled the lawsuit on behalf of more than 500 current and former healthcare workers from NorthShore University HealthSystem in Illinois who argued they were victims of religious discrimination.

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Federal Court Orders Air Force to Not Impose Vaccine Mandate on Coast Guard Members Who’ve Filed Religious Exemptions

The Center Square

A federal court in Ohio entered a nationwide preliminary injunction Thursday prohibiting the U.S. Air Force from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate against religious objectors.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio’s order in Doster v. Kendall remains effective until a full trial is held. It follows the temporary restraining order the court issued July 14 when it granted class action status for all Air Force plaintiffs nationwide. Class status protects all active-duty Airmen, active reserve, National Guard, Air Force Academy cadets, the Air Force Reserve Command, and Space Force members.

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Commentary: Biden Administration Is Making Lists of Religious Vaccine Objectors

The Center Square
Doctor with mask on holding COVID-19 Vaccine

A tiny administrative agency in the District of Columbia announced a new policy Tuesday that will likely serve as a model for a whole-of-government push to assemble lists of Americans who object on religious grounds to a COVID-19 vaccine.

The Pretrial Services Agency for the District of Columbia—a federal independent entity that assists officers in the District of Columbia courts in formulating release recommendations and providing supervision and services to defendants awaiting trial—announced a new records system that will store the names and “personal religious information” of all employees who make “religious accommodation requests for religious exception from the federally mandated vaccination requirement.”

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Navy, Air Force Allegedly Issuing Blanket Denials of Religious Exemptions from COVID Vax Mandate

Admin

The Navy and Air Force are allegedly issuing predetermined blanket denials of requests for religious exemptions from the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, in violation of federal law and regulations.

Vice Admiral John Nowell, deputy chief of naval operations for manpower, personnel, training, and education, created a 50-step standard operating procedure streamlining the denials of these requests, known as religious accommodation requests (RARs).

The military is required by law to evaluate RARs on an individual basis to ensure due process under the Fifth Amendment and protect service members’ First Amendment right to religious freedom.

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After Courts Block Michigan University’s COVID Vaccine Mandate, School Grants Religious Exemptions

Admin

Western Michigan University has granted religious exemption requests to student athletes who sued the taxpayer-funded school after it vowed to kicked them off their teams for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

A trial judge previously issued an injunction, later upheld by a federal appeals court, prohibiting the student athletes’ removal from the football, baseball, women’s basketball, women’s soccer, dance team, and cross-country programs.

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Federal Judge Rules That New York Healthcare Workers Can Apply for Religious Exemption from Vaccine

Admin

An a significant blow to one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates, a federal judge ruled that healthcare workers in New York can apply for religious exemptions from the statewide mandate, according to CNN.

The ruling was made on Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge David Hurd, with Hurd declaring that the New York State Department of Health is “barred from interfering in any way with the granting of religious exemptions from Covid-19 vaccination going forward, or with the operation of exemptions already granted.”

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Leaked Documents Show Military’s Plan to Grill Service Members over Religious Vaccine Exemption

Admin

Guidance reportedly crafted by military attorneys urged Coast Guard chaplains to grill service members on their religious beliefs in attempts to discover whether a service member’s religious exemption is a “ruse,” draft documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.

“It is important to provide context in the memo discussing the member’s belief,” the draft documents said. “If they come to the meeting and begin by discussing concerns about safety, politics, etc., note that in the memo. Even if the member eventually states that it is a belief based on religion, note their first expression and how they moved from non-religious beliefs to religious ones.”

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Catholic Vote President: Government Has ‘No Authority’ to Tell Americans ‘What They Can or Cannot Believe’

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The federal government has “no authority” to tell Americans “what they can or cannot believe” when it comes to religious exemptions to vaccinations, the president of non-profit political advocacy group CatholicVote.org told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Thousands of Americans are seeking religious exemptions to vaccine mandates, citing reports that some of the vaccines were developed using aborted fetal cell lines, but pressure from activists, commentators and mandate-minded lawmakers suggests that the religious objections may face more serious inquisition in the coming weeks.

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Bill Allowing Religious Exemptions for COVID-19 Vaccines to be Considered Again by General Assembly

Jacob Taylor

With multiple COVID-19 vaccines now being distributed and administered across the Commonwealth of Virginia, a Republican state Senator is looking to revisit the topic of religious exemptions to immunizations when the General Assembly convenes for its regular session in ten days.

Senator Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg) has introduced and pre-filed Senate Bill 1116, which would allow for a parent or guardian to object to the vaccination of a child on the grounds that immunization conflicts with their religious practices or tenets, even during an emergency declared by the state board of health.

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