Amicus brief defends religious freedom of U.S. Navy SEALs
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) joined Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rick Scott (R-FL), Mike Lee (R-UT), James Lankford (R-OK), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Braun (R-IN), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and 38 members of the U.S. House of Representatives in an amicus brief.
The lawmakers wrote this amicus brief in support of a legal challenge to the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates filed by 26 Navy SEALs and other Navy service members with sincere religious objections.
The lawmakers argue that this military vaccine mandate sends a strong signal to service members that they must choose between their religion and their desire to protect America.
“Religious freedom is fundamental to every American’s liberty, but we have seen in recent years increasing hostility among elected and appointed government officials towards those who seek to exercise that freedom,” the legislators’ amicus brief reads.
Dishonorably discharged U.S. service members surrender the following rights and benefits:
- Ownership of any sort of firearm or ammunition
- Access to the GI Bill for further education
- VA home loans
- VA medical benefits
- Military Funeral Honors
- Re-enlistment in another military branch
“Our men and women in uniform have fought to protect the freedoms that every American, regardless of belief, enjoys. Now they ask this Court to protect their religious freedom from encroachment by the very government they have sworn to protect with their lives,” the lawmakers wrote.
Read the full text of the amicus brief here.
Anne Summerhays
