Last Monday, the national non-profit legal group Liberty Counsel sent a letter to Emory Healthcare in Georgia requesting that a 41-year-old Georgia woman be granted religious and medical exceptions from the hospital’s COVID vaccine mandate so she can get a kidney transplant, The Epoch Times reported.
The woman, known only as Jane Doe, was referred to Emory Healthcare after developing end-stage kidney disease.
After being evaluated by Emory’s transplant center, Doe was deemed an acceptable candidate for a kidney transplant, despite reporting that she had not been vaccinated for COVID. But after another consultation, Doe was informed by a social worker that she wouldn’t be added to the transplant list until she agreed to take the vaccine.
According to Liberty Counsel, Emory Healthcare still requires patients to be vaccinated for the coronavirus despite President Biden lifting the pandemic national emergency on April 11. Thirty-five percent of US transplant centers still require patients to be vaccinated against COVID.
In its April 17 letter to Emory Healthcare, Liberty Counsel notes that the COVID vaccines available for use are linked to aborted “fetal cell lines,” citing as evidence public health documents from Louisiana and North Dakota. The group also cited studies showing that transplant recipients get fewer benefits from the COVID vaccines than others.
The letter notes that Doe already contracted COVID and argued that her antibody numbers are stronger than those who have gotten the vaccines.
The 41-year-old mother of 7 is a devout Roman Catholic who opposes having the vaccines administered based on her religious beliefs, Liberty Counsel said.
Liberty Counsel is requesting that Jane Doe be exempted from the vaccine mandate on religious and medical grounds and that her name be reactivated and placed on the active transplant waiting list by April 30.
In a statement, Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver said denying a religious or medical exemption to someone needing an organ transplant is “unconscionable.” He called on Emory to act immediately to save Doe’s life.
