Attorney General Paxton has joined a Mississippi-led amicus brief in the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to prevent American service members from being forced to take a vaccine that goes against their religious beliefs.
The unwillingness of the Biden Administration to allow religious exemptions is not only a blatant violation of the Constitution, but the policy is also having disastrous impacts on military morale, recruitment, and combat readiness. The policy has faced scrutiny from the judicial branch.
“Against this backdrop of very low risk to servicemembers, the Navy has approved almost no religious exemptions. Only 43 religious accommodation requests have been approved, and 4,235 requests remain pending. All 43 conditional approvals occurred well after this case began and after the prior 100% denial rate had been called out at all three levels of the federal judiciary,” the brief states.
The current policy of the Biden Administration has put American heroes—men and women who willingly put their lives on the line for this country—in the impossible position of being forced to choose between serving the country they love or violating the foundational religious values they hold dear. Worse, the Biden Administration has done this to promote its political agenda, not to protect public health.
The brief continues: “When considered within its broader response to the pandemic, the denial rate takes on a different cast. It supports the view that the Administration is again advancing political judgments rather than making sound decisions on health. The amici States speak from experience in concluding that the Administration’s near-blanket refusal to grant religious exemptions is not credible and that its denial in this case is not entitled to deference.”
To read the brief, click here.