Service members from all five branches of the U.S. military, federal employees, and federal civilian contractors have joined in a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Defense over its covid-19 vaccine mandates. (…)
Biden on Sept. 9 issued an executive order requiring almost all federal employees to get a covid-19 vaccine as a condition of employment. Regular testing isn’t an option. Civilian federal employees and contractors have until Nov. 22 to be fully vaccinated.
Austin issued a memorandum on Aug. 24 saying that all military service members must receive a covid-19 vaccine, after which all the branches of the military announced various deadlines for its troops to be fully vaccinated, regardless of whether they had previously survived a bout of covid-19, and threatening suspensions or other disciplinary actions if service members don’t have a pending exemption request or fail to comply. (…)
“The Biden administration has no authority to require the covid shots for the military or for federal employees or civilian contractors. Nor can the Biden administration pretend that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment do not apply to its unlawful mandates,” Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in a statement. “The Commander-in-Chief must end this shameful treatment and abuse of our brave military heroes. Forcing the covid shots without consent or consideration for their sincere religious beliefs is illegal.” (…)
Attorneys argued in the suit that no covid-19 vaccine is available in the United States that has received full licensing and approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and as such, cannot be mandated. (…)
Attorneys asked the court to declare the vaccine mandate as unlawful because it violates the EUA provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act “by imposing a mandatory covid-19 shot upon Plaintiffs without giving the ‘option to accept or refuse’ the EUA product.”
Read the full article on Epoch Times: https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/pentagon-faces-class-action-lawsuit-over-vaccine-mandates-on-military-federal-employees-and-contractors_4052993.html