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Coast Guard Agrees To Vaccine Exemption, Ending Lawsuit

By Howard M. Friedman

Cath News reports today that the U.S. Coast Guard has now agreed to grant an exemption from its Hepatitis A vaccination requirement to Lt. Cmdr. Joseph J. Healy who has refused the vaccine on religious grounds. The version of the vaccine available in the U.S. was developed from cells originally taken from an aborted fetus. Last December Healy filed suit against the Coast Guard after an officer denied his immunization request on the ground that Catholic Church doctrines do not ban adherents from receiving the vaccine. (See prior posting.) Now that the Coast Guard has informed the court that the exemption will be granted, Healy's attorneys say they will drop their DC federal court lawsuit.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 16, 2008 (boomark / email).