Four female soccer players at Western Michigan University have sued the school claiming its Covid-19 vaccine mandate violates their Christian beliefs.
Emily Dahl, Hannah Redoute, Bailey Korhorn and Morgan Otteson filed a federal lawsuit on Monday in Grand Rapids after the university announced on August 12 that they have to be vaccinated by the month's end or they would be kicked off the team.
The suit from the Great Lakes Justice Center - which was released on the eve of the vaccine deadline - stated the athletes were allowed to request religious exemptions beginning August 24, which all four players took advantage of.
According to the lawsuit the athletes were separately denied throughout the following week. On August 26 they each 'submitted a written request for explanation for the denials and for information on their right to appeal the denial'.
Morgan Otteson and Hannah Redoute are two of four female soccer players at Western Michigan University who have sued the school claiming its Covid-19 vaccine mandate violates their Christian beliefs
Emily Dahl and Bailey Korhorn along with two teammates filed a federal lawsuit on Monday in Grand Rapids after the university announced on August 12 that they have to be vaccinated by the month's end or they would be kicked off the team
(Pictured: Otteson) The women agreed to wear masks and be tested for the virus regularly. They have also asked the court to file a motion that will allow them to stay on the soccer team until the case is closed
The university claimed the denials were not due to 'insufficiency or insincerity' of their religious beliefs and cited their written response which stated the school 'has a compelling interest in taking action to avoid the significant risk posed to the intercollegiate athletic programs of a Covid-19 outbreak due to unvaccinated participants'.
To accomplish that, the school is 'prohibiting unvaccinated members of the teams from engaging in practices and competition'.
The women are now collectively suing WMU, including President Edward Montgomery and Athletic Director Kathy Beauregard, for enforcing a vaccine mandate that 'seeks to override sincerely held religious beliefs and viewpoint and discriminates against them on the basis of religion'.
The court documents state that the student-athletes are 'Christian women who adhere to the teachings of the Bible and are morally bound to follow the universal, consistent moral teaching of the Christian faith'.
The women are collectively suing WMU, including President Edward Montgomery and Athletic Director Kathy Beauregard, for enforcing a vaccine mandate that 'seeks to override sincerely held religious beliefs and viewpoint and discriminates against them on the basis of religion'
They all 'find their dignity, personal identity and autonomy in the exercise of their sincerely held Christian religious beliefs'.
The student-athletes believe the school has violated their 'First Amendment rights, their right to Due Process and their Fourteenth Amendment liberty right to privacy, self-autonomy and personal identity, including the right to reject government mandated medical treatment'.
The suit also stated that they 'do not oppose or demean any person for the personal medical decisions they make' but they do 'oppose the medical mandates now being forced upon them'.
The women agreed to wear masks and be tested for the virus regularly. They have also asked the court to file a motion that will allow them to stay on the soccer team until the case is closed.
WMU's Board of Trustees told the women that 'their decision was final and no further appeal was available to them'.
The student-athletes believe the school has violated their 'First Amendment rights, their right to Due Process and their Fourteenth Amendment liberty right to privacy, self-autonomy and personal identity, including the right to reject government mandated medical treatment'
When Yahoo Sports asked their attorney, David Kallman, how getting vaccinated clashed with his clients' Christian beliefs, he cited a Bible passage stating human bodies are 'temples of the Holy Spirit' and should be treated as such.
'To allow the government to inject something into your body that you don't necessarily agree with is the antithesis of that,' Kallman said.
'Really the key point here is whatever their religious belief, the case law is clear from the Supreme Court on down. A personal religious belief is just that. It’s personal to the person. The government has no right to challenge it,' he added.
While WMU has been strictly enforcing vaccines on its athletes, it does not have a schoolwide mandatory vaccine policy. A statement on the Division-One school's website said: 'Students and employees who are not vaccinated must be tested for Covid-19 weekly during the month of September and regularly thereafter until fully vaccinated.'
Student-athletes who insist on not getting the vaccine will not lose their scholarships. While they won't be able to participate in athletics, they can stay at the university and continue their education, as reported by Yahoo Sports.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association does not require schools to implement a policy making to mandatory for the athletes to get vaccinated or lose their spot on the team.
In response to the university's decision not to provide religious exemptions, the students have suffered 'loss of school facilities, fear about using school facilities, embarrassment and humiliation and severe emotional distress,' as stated in the court documents.
