On Thursday the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) filed its amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in the lawsuit against United Airlines over its Covid vaccine mandate. United removed from their positions pilots and flight attendants who obtained religious exemptions from the Covid vaccine, and employees sued in Sambrano v. United Airlines.
United lost its appeal, and on March 10 filed an unusual motion to vacate the panel opinion against it. On the same day United abruptly announced that it will allow the employees who have religious exemptions to return to work, saying that moots this lawsuit.
AAPS General Counsel Andrew Schlafly wrote in this amicus brief that “vaccine mandates are an alarming gateway” to advance a political agenda that includes negating freedom to practice one’s religion, infringing on parental rights, violating the patient-physician relationship, and limiting the ability to earn a living.
AAPS requested that the Fifth Circuit fully publish its superb opinion on the side of employees, instead of dropping it down the memory hole.
“In essence, United booked a ticket on this flight to tyranny, whether intentionally or not,” AAPS’s amicus brief states. “Fortunately, United’s flight landed before its ill-fated destination.”
“By abruptly reversing its position in this case, United has done the equivalent of a U-turn on the runway and this Court should have a healthy skepticism about its explanation from its cockpit,” states Andrew Schlafly in this filing. “Are we taking off or landing?” he asks rhetorically about United oddly trying to erase an appellate panel’s opinion while also seeking to get it reconsidered by the full court.
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943. Its motto is omnia pro aegroto (everything for the patient).
