The Air Force has discharged multiple service members for refusing to take COVID-19 vaccines. Recently, attorneys for some of those service members filed a lawsuit in federal court against the departments of Defense and the Air Force. The suit claims that the Air Force is discriminating against its personnel because they sought religious accommodations against taking the vaccine but were denied. The plaintiffs range from an F-16 instructor pilot to an assistant flight commander.
About 2% of Air Force service members have not been vaccinated, citing religious objections. A February report showed that out of about 16,000 requests for religious exemptions, the U.S. military had granted only 15. The Air Force specifically has granted nine.
The military is typically open to religious accommodations, but 16,000 requests seem like a lot. Especially, that is, when service members are already required to have multiple vaccinations to be in the military in the first place. Christianity is the predominant religion in the United States, and it’s unclear why the religion would forbid the COVID-19 vaccine but not, for example, the malaria or hepatitis-A vaccines. It’s possible the military believes the request for a religious exemption in this case is a ruse and that military members simply do not want to take a vaccine.
On the other hand, religious exemptions are often granted in the military, regardless of the specifics — as long as the requests are made based on sincere religious beliefs. In January, federal district Judge Reed O’Connor issued a preliminary order which stopped the Navy from firing 35 Navy SEALs who also refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons. They sued when their request for a religious exemption was denied.
Genuine religious exemptions should be granted in a military that takes the First Amendment seriously. However, the military should not have an obligation to allow religious exemptions when the issue is truly vaccine refusal, not sincerely held religious beliefs. Whether or not the Air Force service members’ claims will hold up in court will likely depend on whether they had requested religious accommodations for previous vaccines — that is to say, whether or not their request for a religious exemption has evidence of being rooted in genuine religious beliefs.
Nicole Russell is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist in Washington, D.C., who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
