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Friday January 11, 2008
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Officer Sues Coast Guard for Forcing Vaccine Injection Derived from Aborted Baby
By John Connolly and John-Henry Westen
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit on January 2 on behalf of a Coast Guard officer who was refused an exception from injection with a Hepatitis A vaccine derived from an aborted child, even though the injection conflicts with the officer's Catholic beliefs.
The U.S. Coast Guard refused to grant Lt. Commander Joseph J. Healy an exception, even though it allows injection exemptions based on other religious beliefs. The injection, required by the Coast Guard in lieu of proof of immunity for Hepatitis A, uses cells taken from the lung tissue of a dissected child aborted at 14 weeks.
In compliance with Coast Guard requirements, Healy filed a memo requesting religious exemption based on his Catholic faith and strong opposition to abortion. Capt. Brent Pennington denied the request because he disagreed with Healy's theology, claiming that Catholic teaching "does not state that these immunizations are against the religious tenets of the Catholic Church."
However, Dr. Thaddeus Kozinski a professor of Philosophy at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy in Ontario said the case was an example of the invasion of a sphere of religious freedom. "The state shouldn't be engaging in this kind of interpretation," he told LifeSiteNews.com. "It doesn't have the authority or the jurisdiction in these matters. It should defer to the person's conscience and the Church's teaching unless it's a grave matter concerning the common good."
"Those who lay their life on the line to defend our shores are entitled to the same religious freedoms as anyone else," said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. "Members of the U.S. military should never be forced to make an unconstitutional choice between honoring their country and honoring their faith."
The ADF has filed a motion to block Healy from being given the injection against his will during the court proceedings.
To contact the U.S. Coast Guard by mail:
Coast Guard Headquarters
Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard,
2100 Second Street, SW,
Washington, DC 20593
To submit an e-mail comment at http://www.uscg.mil/global/mail/
Read the complaint in Healy v. United States Coast Guard:
http://www.telladf.org/UserDocs/HealyComplaint.pdf.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage
ABORTED BABY PARTS RESEARCH AND PATIENT ABUSE
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/sep/99092901.html
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