Eight students from Indiana University (IU) filed a lawsuit in a federal court on Monday against the school\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying the mandate \u2026<\/b>
\nEight students from Indiana University (IU) filed a lawsuit in a federal court on Monday against the school\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying the mandate is unconstitutional and violates Indiana\u2019s ban on vaccine passports. The Bopp Law Firm represented the eight students and sued the board of trustees\u2014the IU\u2019s governing body and legal owner. \u201cIU\u2019s Mandate violates the constitutional rights of IU\u2019s students\u2014it requires all IU students without any meaningful exemptions to take the COVID vaccine,\u201d lead counsel James Bopp said in a statement, noting that no government entity and no other Indiana public university requires a COVID-19 vaccination. \u201cThis kind of total disregard for student freedom to choose for themselves, for student\u2019s bodily autonomy, and for the need for voluntary and informed consent cannot stand under the U.S. Constitution,\u201d Bopp added. On May 21, 2021, IU notified all faculty, staff, and students through email that there would be a requirement to receive a COVID-19 vaccine for the fall semester. Failing to do so will result in students\u2019 class registrations being canceled, their university-issued IDs terminated, and being prohibited from any on-campus activity. Faculty and staff who do not comply will \u201cno longer be able to be employed\u201d by IU. \u201cApproved exemptions will be extremely limited to a very narrow set of criteria,\u201d the university\u2019s website reads. The exemptions include religious exemptions, medical exemptions with documentation or medical deferrals, and an online program exemption\u2014it must be an online program, not simply taking all online classes. According to the lawsuit, one plaintiff, Mr. D.J.B., was refused a medical exemption even though he recently had a COVID-19 antibody test which revealed that he still has antibodies. Another plaintiff, Jaime Carini, was refused a medical exemption even though her physician provided a letter stating she should not receive any immunization due to her current illness. She received a religious exemption but faces extra requirements of masks and testing. The lawsuit ( pdf) points out that all three available COVID-19 vaccines\u2014Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson\u2014have only \u201cEmergency Use Authorization\u201d status and are not licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A vaccine authorized under Emergency Use Authorization requires \u201ccomplete, informed, and voluntary consent,\u201d the complaint claims, saying the threat of virtual expulsion from school is \u201ccoercion.\u201d The lawsuit also alleges that college students are at extremely low risk of adverse effects if they get infected. However, the risks and side effects of COVID-19 vaccines are serious and increasingly recognized. The mandate violates the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including rights of personal autonomy and bodily integrity and the right to reject medical treatment, the lawsuit claims. The mandate also violates Indiana\u2019s ban on vaccine passports, the lawsuit states. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita issued an opinion in May ( pdf), saying the ban on vaccine passports applies to public colleges and universities because they are \u201carms of the state.\u201d IU \u201cunquestionably violates the new law by requiring its students, faculty, and staff to show proof of immunization as a condition of continued attendance or employment,\u201d Rokita wrote in his letter. But Rokita also said that federal law requires individuals to be informed of the options and consequences but does not explicitly prohibit an entity from mandating a vaccine, even if it is experimental. In a statement to The Epoch Times, IU\u2019s spokesperson Chuck Carney said IU\u2019s mandate would remain in place \u201cto support a return to safe and more normal operations this fall.\u201d \u201cThe university is confident it will prevail in this case. Following the release of the Indiana attorney general\u2019s opinion, our process was revised, with uploading proof of vaccination no longer required. The attorney general\u2019s opinion affirmed our right to require the vaccine,\u201d Carney continued. Bopp also asked for an expedition and sought a preliminary injunction ( pdf) to prevent this mandate from taking effect so the eight students can return to school in time. More than 1,200 cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults following Pfizer\u2019s or Moderna\u2019s COVID vaccine have been reported in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n