US Marines Ask Court for Relief From COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

Several members of the U.S. Marine Corps filed an amended complaint seeking relief from the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members, claiming they were denied religious exemptions.

The complaint was filed (pdf) in the U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida against the Defense Department, Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Gen. David H. Berger, the head of the Marine Corps.

“The plaintiffs are Marines who face a deadline to receive an injection that violates their sincerely held religious beliefs since all of the COVID shots are associated with aborted fetal cells,” said a news release from Liberty Counsel, which filed the claim on 15 Marines’ behalf.

Those Marines, the release added, “have been refused any religious exemption or accommodation,” although the deadline to receive the vaccine has long passed. “These dates have passed, and disciplinary actions have already commenced,” it said.

Now, the Marines are seeking relief to prevent them from facing court-martials, dishonorable discharges, or other demeaning measures, according to the group.

“As we prepare to celebrate Independence Day, we must continue to fight for the freedom of those who protect us every day. No service member should be forced to choose between serving God and serving country,” Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in a statement. “The Department of Defense continues to violate the law and ignore their religious freedom. This lawlessness must end.”

Since the Defense Department handed down the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members in August last year, numerous lawsuits have been filed. Two months ago, for example, a former Marine Corps captain filed a suit in the Eastern District of Texas and alleged the mandate is unlawful.

“The heart of the claim is that these are not vaccines,” former Marine Corps Capt. Dale Saran told The Epoch Times in late May about the suit.

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