A federal judge struck a blow against the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate by blocking it from expelling members of the elite Navy SEALs for refusing to comply over religious objections.

In a ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor admonished the Pentagon and the Navy over their process for considering the kind of religious exemptions sought by the 35 SEALs, who sued the service for refusing their exemption requests. O’Connor described the process in his decision as “theater” and as a "rubber stamp for denial" that made a mockery of their service.

“The Navy service members in this case seek to vindicate the very freedoms they have sacrificed so much to protect,” O’Connor wrote. “The COVID-19 pandemic provides the government no license to abrogate those freedoms. There is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment. There is no military exclusion from our Constitution."

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered a vaccination mandate for all military service members that has largely been met with compliance. Rates of vaccination across all of the branches are generally higher than those found outside the military, and the Department of Defense ranks about 93% vaccinated when civilian personnel are also included.

However, the Pentagon has faced resistance over its policy. Five Republican governors have argued that Austin had no right to issue the mandate among members of the National Guard after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt ordered service members to reject the order. A federal judge ruled against Oklahoma last week and reinforced Austin’s argument that the mandate fit within his powers to set readiness standards.

Under the mandate, there exists a religious exemption to vaccination available, but not a single one has yet to be granted to a service member. If a service member refuses to comply, the military has the right to discharge the objector and already hundreds of members have seen their service careers come to an abrupt end over noncompliance.

In the case of the reluctant SEALs, O’Connor contended that their opposition was centered around four points: “opposition to abortion and the use of aborted fetal cell lines in development of the vaccine; belief that modifying one’s body is an affront to the Creator; divine instruction not to receive the vaccine; and opposition to injecting trace amounts of animal cells into one’s body.”

Regardless of whether the SEALs’ arguments are valid, O’Connor insisted that the court itself could not “determine their truthfulness or accuracy” of their arguments, but still contended that their beliefs appear to be sincere. The judge claimed that the Pentagon gave their requests little or no consideration.

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