The Medical Freedom Act: Preserving Liberty for the Next 250 Years

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, we are reminded that every generation has a responsibility to preserve and strengthen the freedoms entrusted to it. For two and a half centuries, our nation has been guided by the belief that government exists to secure the rights and liberties of the people. In this nine-part series, we explore why protecting medical freedom is essential to that enduring promise and why every state should enact the Medical Freedom Act (MFA) to preserve those liberties for future generations.

Part One: Why Every State Needs a Medical Freedom Act

To ensure liberty is secured for the next 250 years, it is essential we reflect on one of the greatest domestic challenges our nation has faced since its founding. The COVID-19 era demonstrated how quickly the loss of personal freedoms, combined with centralized decision-making across government agencies, public health institutions, international organizations, major corporations, and media platforms, could disrupt nearly every aspect of American life. Businesses closed, schools were shuttered, livelihoods were lost, constitutional questions were tested, and longstanding norms surrounding informed consent and individual liberty came under extraordinary pressure. The experience serves as a reminder that fundamental freedoms, including health freedom, should be protected, especially during times of crisis. 

“Since March 2020, we may have experienced the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.” ~ Justice Neil Gorsuch, concurring opinion, Arizona v. Mayorkas (2023)

The coincidental timing of America’s anniversary and this recent period of national upheaval should serve as both a warning and a wake-up call: the freedom of future generations should not rely solely on the restraint or judgment of those in positions of power. The Medical Freedom Act is intended to establish necessary legal protections so that, even in future emergencies, the principles of informed consent, individual liberty, and restrained government remain secure. 

What is the Medical Freedom Act?

The Medical Freedom Act is designed as a structural safeguard for the future. It affirms that medical decisions should remain with the individual, protects against coercion and discrimination based on refusal of medical interventions, and helps ensure that no future emergency results in the erosion of fundamental liberties. Rather than responding to a single event, the Act establishes protections intended to preserve medical freedom, strengthen state autonomy, and reinforce the principle that government exists to secure, not diminish, the rights of the people. 

“Who am I… to tell you what you should put in your body? I don’t have that right… Government does not have that right.” ~ Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida Surgeon General 

Medical freedom, the right to accept or refuse a medical intervention free from coercion, is the cornerstone of the Medical Freedom Act. One of the clearest lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic was how rapidly fundamental liberties can be constrained when governments assert broad authority over personal medical decisions in the name of the public good. The Medical Freedom Act affirms a different principle: a free society is preserved when no person and no government has the authority to compel another individual to undergo a medical intervention against his or her will.

A Republic, If We Can Keep It

The momentum for medical freedom continues to grow as more of the COVID-19 era is reexamined and uncomfortable truths emerge about policies that undermined informed consent, concentrated power, and infringed on individual liberty. Throughout this series, we examine how many of the conflicts, mandates, and discriminatory practices that divided the nation could have been prevented had the protections embodied in the Medical Freedom Act been in place.

That momentum is translating into legislative action. Idaho enacted the nation’s most comprehensive Medical Freedom Act in 2025, and in 2026 eleven additional states introduced similar legislation. Arizona’s Legislature passed landmark protections through both chambers, only to see them vetoed by the governor. This demonstrates both the growing demand for these safeguards and the challenges that remain in passing them.

As Americans celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary, Benjamin Franklin’s reminder remains as relevant as ever: “A republic, if you can keep it.” Preserving that republic requires vigilance against policies that erode the liberties the Constitution was designed to protect. The Medical Freedom Act offers a principled path forward by ensuring that no person and no government has the authority to compel a medical intervention as a condition of participating in American life. The idea that each person has the authority to decide what goes in or on his or her body is the foundation of liberty, from which all other freedoms flow. The Act is a lasting safeguard for informed consent, individual liberty, and the constitutional freedoms entrusted to every generation.

As you consider how best to preserve liberty for future generations in your unique role as a state lawmaker, we encourage you to support, or introduce, a Medical Freedom Act in your state. Stand for Health Freedom is available to provide model legislation, legal analysis, and policy resources to assist you in advancing these protections.  

For further information on this policy position and more, see our Guarding Liberty page, just for you. We stand ready to be a resource as you consider this critical legislation.

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Erica Comerford

Director of Political Affairs
An informed and empowered citizenry is extremely important to SHF’s Director of Political Affiars Erica Comerford, whose oldest two children were injured by childhood vaccines. She also has family members who suffered after receiving H1N1 vaccines in 2009. Erica studied business and nursing in college but was forced out of the nursing program when local hospitals would not accept vaccine exemptions to complete clinical rotations. Instead, she focused on homeschooling her children and dedicating as much time as she could to health freedom advocacy. In 2017, Erica co-founded a nonprofit grassroots advocacy organization in her home state, working to develop relationships with local legislators to pass health freedom legislation and defeat bills that curtail individual liberty. Erica is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with SHF's state partners, identifying, vetting, and supporting health freedom candidates across all levels of government through the Vote for Health Freedom initiative. In her free time, Erica loves spending time with her husband and four children, and volunteering at church, and cheering for her kids on the sideline of the soccer field. Along with her family, she enjoys supporting an orphanage and school in Uganda which grows its own organic food and uses natural healing to improve the life and health of the children.

Scott Kiley

Associate Director of Local Advocacy

Scott Kiley has been married to Jill Kiley for 37 years. Together they have 3 children, 3 grandchildren and reside in Florida. He is an entrepreneur having founded several businesses, one that remains today.

In battling the tyranny that unfolded during the Covid pandemic, Scott uses his organizational and entrepreneurial skills to focus on health care freedom. Scott and his wife Jill organize health freedom advocates in an effort to deliver meaningful change at a local level. Doctors, attorneys, nurses and passionate health freedom warriors make up the team. The advocates focus on their local county commissioners, city council members, school board members, sheriff and police. The advocacy work is always collaborative, respectful and educational while bring real change that enhances health care freedom. Team effort success has come in the form of local legislation through resolutions and ordinances.

Scott and his wife Jill share a vision of uniting every county within their state of Florida and using this unity to bring change in Tallahassee.

Jill Kiley

Associate Director of Local Advocacy

Jill earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Southern Illinois University and a master’s in Clinical Social Work from the University of Illinois-Chicago. As a Youth and family therapist, mother of three, and grandmother, Jill has always stayed abreast of health issues affecting our society’s physical and mental well-being.

During the COVID lockdowns, she realized that the gaslighting of the public and the straying from evidence-based medical advice from our medical authorities needed to be questioned. The flawed science around the pretrials of the COVID-19 vaccines was alarming!  Jill and her husband, Scott, decided they needed to stand up and fight back locally against the deceptive narrative invoked against our society and continue advocating for our God-given rights

Jill and her husband, Scott, have become the local conduits of truth in a society of censorship. They have coordinated with activists in their community to educate local officials, resulting in impactful changes to local legislation to protect residents and their freedoms. “Bringing Truth to Light gracefully, opens doors to dialog and spurs curiosity for truth.”

Jill Hines

Directory of Advocacy
A former banker turned homeschool mom, Jill Hines began researching alternatives to conventional medicine in 2010 and what she discovered changed the trajectory of her life. She corrected a worrisome health issue, and embraced a natural approach to wellness. Advocating for informed consent and parental rights became a full-time mission when she joined the board of the Georgia Coalition for Vaccine Choice and later became the co-director of Health Freedom Louisiana. Due to her advocacy efforts during the COVID crisis, Jill was one of 25 Louisianans selected by Central City News as “a hero of the constitutional crisis.” She was also presented the Impact Award for Outstanding Public Service from the government watchdog organization Citizens for a New Louisiana. Jill now represents hundreds of millions of Americans who experienced censorship due to the Biden administration's efforts to suppress disfavored speech as a plaintiff in the landmark lawsuit Missouri v. Biden. Jill holds a marketing degree from Louisiana Tech University and now passionately “sells” health freedom full-time. Serving as Stand for Health Freedom’s advocacy director provides an incredible opportunity to advance the growing movement to preserve the sacred right to refuse unwanted medical interventions for ourselves and our children without fear of retribution.
“We have lived through a terrifying societal, psychological, and medical experiment which afforded us a knowledge that our forefathers tried to impart and we can no longer ignore: Our freedom is tenuous. For our children’s sake, the time is now to take a stand for health freedom.”

Chrissy Scott

Executive Assistant and Social Media Manager

A labor and delivery nurse with a lifelong passion for maternal and fetal health, Chrissy Scott left her job of 19 years after learning the truth about the harms caused by the medical system. In 2009, she was mandated by her employer to receive the H1N1 vaccine during her first trimester of pregnancy with her second child. She was assured that the vaccine was “safe and effective” for pregnant women, but her son was born with a kidney defect that could have been fatal. She didn’t connect the dots to vaccine injury until several years later when the declining health of her oldest son drove her to seek answers outside of allopathic medicine.

This personal journey ignited in her a new passion for truth and transparency in health care. As SHF’s Executive Assistant, Chrissy facilitates communication and local advocacy initiatives alongside Leah Wilson for their home state of Indiana. She also manages and creates graphics for SHF’s social media accounts and the website’s swag shop.

Chrissy earned her nursing degree from Anderson University and served her entire career at her local hospital. While she’s no longer a floor nurse, her five very active boys frequently test her nursing skills! She homeschools her children and has been co-owner of a successful home décor sign business with her sister.

“Parents, being the experts on their own children, are best suited to make decisions for the well-being of their family. To do this properly, they must be given full and accurate information and be free from force or coercion.”

Ellen Chappelle

Writer/Editor

Ellen Chappelle serves as SHF’s resident wordsmith. A seasoned writer and editor, she’s enthusiastic about ensuring that our content is clear, concise, and inspiring.

Ellen is most energized by working on projects that transform lives. A truth seeker as well as a journalist, she’s disturbed by the lack of accuracy in today’s media and determined to help share fact rather than fiction. And having found greater healing with alternative approaches, she’s also passionate about preserving our freedom to make informed health choices.

Past projects include serving as regional editor of a dog magazine, color and trend specialist for a small cosmetics company, arts columnist, newspaper reporter, ghostwriter, and creator of website content for artists and small businesses.

With a degree in journalism and theatre, Ellen is also a performer. She enjoyed singing and dancing on a cruise ship and traveling with a national musical theatre tour, as well as recording industrial videos, television commercials, and radio voiceovers. She also creates handcrafted jewelry in wire, chain maille, and fused glass.

“Despite what some would have us believe, the fact remains that this nation was founded on biblical principles by people who wanted freedom to worship God and live their lives without government involvement. It’s never been more critical to fight for those rights.”

LEAH WILSON

Executive Director and Co-founder

An attorney with a background in complex litigation and advocacy, Leah Wilson is passionate about children’s health and has researched and worked on child welfare issues for more than a decade.

The overmedication of children in foster care as a form of behavior management is what compelled Leah to become an advocate and foster parent. During her time as a court-appointed special advocate for abused and neglected children, Leah witnessed the rampant use of psychiatric drugs among foster kids. She also discovered that, in addition to many extensive requirements, the state had a policy that all foster children and foster families be fully vaccinated, without exception. Through her involvement in law, health and the foster care system, it became abundantly clear to Leah that the single most important issue affecting child welfare in the United States is the practice of one-size-fits-all medicine via medical mandates. This motivated Leah to expand her advocacy beyond foster care to all children nationwide and to start Stand for Health Freedom (SHF) in 2019.

A graduate of the Saint Louis University School of Law, Leah holds dual bachelor degrees in political science and Spanish from Indiana University. In addition to her advocacy work with SHF, Leah is the owner and former operations director of MaxLiving Indy, one of the largest natural health centers in the Midwest. She is also an educator on holistic health as well as a sought-after speaker on issues ranging from religious rights to greening your home.

“Parental rights and religious freedom are God-given natural rights that cannot arbitrarily be taken away by government authorities. Parents are the single most important factor in a child’s success; I stand in full support of this sacred relationship.”

Sayer JI

Director and Co-founder

Sayer Ji is a widely recognized researcher, author, lecturer, activist, and educator on natural health modalities. Among his many roles, he is an advisor to Stand for Health Freedom, a reviewer and editor of the International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine, an advisory board member of the National Health Federation, a steering committee member of the Global GMO Free Coalition, and the co-founder and CEO of Systome Biomed Inc., a revolutionary scientific validation framework.

Most notably, Sayer is the founder of Greenmedinfo.com, the world’s most widely referenced, evidence-based natural health resource of its kind. He founded the platform in 2008 to provide an open access, evidence-based resource supporting natural and integrative modalities. Today, Greenmedinfo.com has more than a million visits per month, serving as a trusted resource on myriad health and wellness topics to physicians, healthcare practitioners, clinicians, researchers and consumers worldwide.

Sayer attended Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he studied under the notable American philosopher Dr. Bruce W. Wilshire. He received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 1995, with a focus on the philosophy of science. His new book, Regenerate: Unlocking Your Body’s Radical Resilience through the New Biology, was released in March 2020 and is an Amazon bestseller.

“I truly believe that education will be our greatest shield against accelerating the erosion of civil liberties, including the right to bodily sovereignty, as well as the greatest catalyst for positive change on this planet moving forward.”

Bailey Kuykendoll

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Designer and visual marketer Bailey Kuykendoll began advocating for health and religious freedom and parental rights in 2014 after learning she was pregnant. A self-described skeptic, she’s not afraid to ask questions and do copious amounts of research to reach her own conclusions.

She’s also not afraid of hard work. As SHF’s Associate Director, Bailey truly keeps the organizational boat afloat. Working closely with our State Directors in each state, she ensures that SHF has calls-to-action for health-freedom bills and petitions on our website and across social media, spreading the word to encourage people to contact their legislators. She builds campaigns, graphics, website pages, and relationships.

Bailey earned a design degree from Harrington Institute of Design in 2008. She then served as a production assistant on several shows for HGTV, followed by working behind the scenes on the X Factor, small indie films, music videos, and documentaries. Bailey joined Health Freedom Florida after moving to the East Coast, becoming co-president of the grassroots organization in 2019. While at Health Freedom Florida, she successfully filed a state bill designed to stop discrimination based on your health status. She joined SHF in the fall of 2020.

“God placed a calling on my heart back in 2008 to be a part of something bigger for Him. Twelve years later, the opportunity came knocking to help others lean into their natural-born rights and take a stand for themselves and their families. I knew this is where I was called to be, and I have never looked back.”

Valerie Ferrell

POLICY Director

Valerie Borek is a passionate advocate for health rights and family privacy. A mother of two with degrees in law and biochemistry, she is perfectly positioned to lead SHF advocates through complex health-rights policy. Her work is guided by a love for American values, uncovering truth, and a passion for empowering others. Valerie has served as SHF’s policy analyst since 2021.

Valerie’s understanding of the value of freedom to make one’s own health care choices is not just academic. Health freedom has kept her boys alive and thriving. Her choice to have home births jump-started her advocacy for health privacy. Her eldest son survived a rare and deadly cancer because her family was able to navigate medical care while holding onto values that were sometimes at odds with recommendations.

Before joining SHF, Valerie specialized in health and parenting rights at her boutique law firm, especially surrounding birth and vaccine rights. She advocated for informed consent in health care and transparent food labeling in her state. She helped found the Birth Rights Bar Association and was honored to present their argument to the Delaware Supreme Court that midwifery is not the practice of medicine, in support of a trailblazing midwife.

“Health is the foundation of how we show up in this world to love, serve, and create. Americans are blessed to live in a country that gets stronger the more we protect fundamental rights, like informed consent and privacy, so individuals and families can thrive.”

Mary Katherine LaCroix

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND NONPROFIT ADMINISTRATION

Mary Katherine LaCroix became involved with SHF as a volunteer in 2019 when the religious exemption for childhood vaccines was at risk in her home state of New Jersey. She believes strongly that parents have the responsibility for their children’s health, education, and faith formation and that only they have the right to make medical decisions and manage their care.

She has worked in fundraising for more than 25 years at various educational, cultural, human services, and political organizations. A graduate of the University of Scranton, she holds a degree in History and English Literature.

Mary Katherine is thrilled to have this opportunity to work with and help grow SHF, believing that together we can achieve even greater impact in protecting our rights and caring for our loved ones. She enjoys spending time with her husband, two children and large extended family, as well as volunteering to support the special needs community.

“Parents are taught that they must trust the experts. That’s what we did, until we learned that the experts can be wrong and don’t always know what is best for your child. Parents should instead feel empowered by their natural, God-given ability to advocate and care for their children. SHF is here to give them the tools to do just that.”

Sheila Ealey

Political Analyst

Dr. Sheila Lewis Ealey is the founder and former director of the Creative Learning Center of Louisiana, a therapeutic day school for children who are on the autism spectrum or struggling with other nonverbal intellectual disabilities. The wife of a former U.S. Coast Guard Officer, she is also the mother of four children. Her son was diagnosed with severe autism spectrum disorder at 18 months. He is now a young man and considered moderate and emerging.

Sheila and her twins were featured in the documentary “Vaxxed.” She has traveled extensively, advocating for medical freedom. She continues to educate disenfranchised parents about their fundamental rights to religious and philosophical exemptions, their ability to live sustainably on a limited budget, and the importance of nutrition and biomedical interventions for optimum health with autism. She also writes individual homeschool curriculums for parents of children with autism or intellectual disorders. Sheila is a trustee for the Autism Trust, USA, and on the board of directors of Children’s Health Defense.

Over the past 20 years, she has educated herself to use natural healing modalities for the body and brain. Her formal education includes degrees in communication, special education curriculum, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership in Special Education. Sheila serves as an assistant content advisor and political analyst for SHF.

“It is not the Constitution’s job to protect our liberties, as it is not a philosophical document but a legal one. Its purpose is to limit the powers and authority of our federal government in hopes of preventing an intrusion upon our unalienable rights. We are obliged to maintain our government within its limits.”

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