Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) is urging Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to honor religious exemptions for military service members who cite religious reasons for declining Covid-19 vaccines.

That after a recent Navy Administrative Separation Board found in favor of an officer who declined the shots.

(Listen to a podcast on the topic below.)

Scientists say Covid-19 vaccines have proven largely ineffective at preventing infection, transmission and illness from vaccination, and Covid-19 has a near-zero statistical impact on healthy young people. However, a mandate remains in place for military members, and thousands have been dismissed from duty for refusing the vaccine for religious or health reasons. Critics of the mandates say the dismissals are impacting national security and violating the rights of troops not to be forced to take an experimental vaccine.

Lt. Bill Moseley, a Navy officer, recently became the first service member to win his case against Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

As you are aware, on May 20, a Navy Administrative Separation Board voted unanimously that Lt. Bill Moseley did not commit misconduct by refusing the Covid-19 vaccine, and should not be dismissed on those grounds. The Board’s decision makes clear what the law holds and what I have reiterated to you previously—service members do not have to sacrifice their religious beliefs in order to serve our country… Now that the preliminary injunction in the lawsuit is rightly preventing the Navy from applying its previous misguided policy of separating sailors who were denied religious accommodation requests, the Navy should apply the same standard established in Lt. Moseley’s case to all service members, who request a religious accommodation.

Refusing the Covid-19 vaccine on religious or moral grounds is not misconduct and does not warrant dismissal. I urge you to take immediate action to apply this precedent and equitable standard to all service members that have requested a religious accommodation to the Covid-19 vaccine mandate.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma)

Lankford continues to defend service members against the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate.

He recently joined Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and 12 colleagues to introduce the Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots (AMERICANS) Act of 2022. The bill counters the Biden Administration’s efforts to coerce and punish service members who decline the Covid-19 vaccine, and introduces accountability measures in response to what they call the Pentagon’s efforts to undermine transparency.

Lankford also introduced the Covid-19 Vaccine Dishonorable Discharge Prevention Act to prohibit the Department of Defense from giving service members a dishonorable discharge for choosing not to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. That Act which was ultimately signed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

You can read the full letter HERE and below:

Dear Secretary Austin and Secretary Del Toro:

I am writing to urge you to apply the precedent established by the Administrative Separation Board in Navy Lt. Bill Moseley’s religious accommodation case to all service members requesting a religious accommodation.

As you are aware, on May 20, a Navy Administrative Separation Board voted unanimously that Lt. Bill Moseley did not commit misconduct by refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, and should not be dismissed on those grounds. The Board’s decision makes clear what the law holds and what I have reiterated to you previously—service members do not have to sacrifice their religious beliefs in order to serve our country.

In recent days, the US Navy paused efforts to separate and discipline sailors refusing the COVID-19 vaccine due to religious objections. Specifically, NAVADMIN 083/22 “suspends separation processing and adverse administrative consequences of COVID-19 vaccine refusal for Navy service members who submitted requests for religious accommodation from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement.” This new guidance followed District Judge O’Connor’s decision to allow the lawsuit brought by 35 sailors refusing inoculation on religious grounds to move forward as a class action lawsuit.

Now that the preliminary injunction in the lawsuit is rightly preventing the Navy from applying its previous misguided policy of separating sailors who were denied religious accommodation requests, the Navy should apply the same standard established in Lt. Moseley’s case to all service members, who request a religious accommodation. Refusing the COVID-19 vaccine on religious or moral grounds is not misconduct and does not warrant dismissal. 

I urge you to take immediate action to apply this precedent and equitable standard to all service members that have requested a religious accommodation to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Further, as I previously requested from you this month, I also encourage you to reinstate the service members who have been separated from the Navy, as well as other branches of the Department of Defense, for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine on religious grounds. Similarly, I strongly urge the Department to apply this common-sense precedent to all such service members upon their return.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.