Ohio Judge Blocks Air Force from Discharging Thousands of Unvaccinated Service Members
Thursday, a federal judge in Ohio issued a temporary halt on the discharge of any Airmen who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 due to a pending or rejected religious exemptions. The provisional order will be applied to U.S. Air Force members stationed around the globe.
American Military News reports:
“Judge Matthew W. McFarland, of Ohio’s Southern District, granted a temporary restraining order in the case of Hunter Doster, et al. v. Hon Frank Kendall, et al., in which Doster and other service members sued the Air Force Secretary to grant religious exemptions to the service’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”
This case was brought forward by a United States Air Force member who felt that they, and thousands of other service members, were being unjustly denied their right to exercise religious freedom.
The order states that the complainant seeks “redress for ‘the systematic efforts of the Defendants, and those who report to them, to flagrantly violate’ the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (“RFRA”) and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment by requiring all Airmen to obtain the COVID-19 vaccination without granting religious accommodation requests for those who oppose receiving the vaccine due to their sincerely held religious beliefs.“
The order reports that, though the Air Force received 9,062 religious accommodation requests, leadership has denied 6,343, granted just 83, ad have left the remaining 2,636 pending or otherwise unacknowledged.
The Air Force is not the only branch of the military to deny religious exemption requests by the thousands, the Army for example, had only approved one as of March 2022.
More recently, The Center Square reported that over 60,000 Army soldiers have lost pay, benefits, or have received reprimands due to their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. “Additionally, none of the 3,000 religious exemption requests filed by those in the Guard and Reserve were granted,” the report states.
Thomas Renz, an attorney who frequently represents military whistleblowers, told The Center Square that the total number expected to be cut off branch-wide is closer to 500,000.
President Biden’s Department of Defense is planning to effectively let go 25% of our military, at a time with a severe shortage of new enlistees. Even the NDAA for 2023, that was recently passed in the U.S. House, outlines the necessity to discharge unvaccinated service members.
This major overhaul of our military seems to pose a significant threat to national security and our overall military readiness.
While mass denial of religious rights and the willingness of our military leaders to simply let go of our honorable service men and women is clearly concerning, we must also appreciate the tenacity of Judge Matthew W McFarland. His courage could possible lead to thousands of Airmen keeping their careers and livelihoods in tact. This court order has proven to be a major win for religious freedom.
