Millions of Americans have faced a jab-or-job scenario in the past two years. Others have had to choose whether to allow their child to receive shots to participate in an activity or event.
How many of us have had to wait outside a building while a family member entered to do their business? How many have been treated differently because of a personal medical choice? Or worse, how many have been coerced into a medical decision they did not want to make because access, services, or resources would be otherwise denied?
Many states have decided not to protect the individual’s constitutional right to informed consent in medical choices, claiming it’s the right (or even duty) of a business or government entity to issue medical mandates. Our government has even used federal agencies to impose COVID shot mandates on working Americans — the Supreme Court struck down the attempt through the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) to requireprivate businesses to make such mandates or other impositions on health choices but upheld a similar requirement by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
In these situations, business rights to impose mandates are being pitted against individual rights to informed consent. The economic power of businesses is being used as leverage over Americans who rely on them for their pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
So, who wins?
It should be simple. Our U.S. Constitution tells us that the fundamental and natural rights of individuals must always win.
A business or corporate person has rights, too, but those rights must always bow to the constitutional rights of individuals. We don’t live in a country where the rights of a fictitious corporate person are superior to real live humans. We live in a country where individual freedoms are maximized, limited only if they clash with other individual freedoms. In such cases of a rights showdown, treasured American values tell us to protect the vulnerable who may not have the power to protect themselves.
Who should tell businesses to back off mandates?
Our Constitution was written to stop tyranny. Tyranny is the use of power to oppress, exploit, or harm individuals or groups of people. States have the constitutional right (and duty) to protect citizens of their state from medical oppression, whether it comes from the federal government or a private business. The federal government only has the power given to it under the Constitution, and the health and welfare of citizens – known as the “police power” – is the primary power that was not handed over. This sacred right and duty is even more important when we have a federal government bent on overreach into the health decisions of individual citizens.
This is why we have civil rights laws — to protect people who are being shut out of society or harmed because of their personal circumstances. It’s sound public policy for a state to stop a business from coercing compliance with medical mandates, whether excluding individuals from employment or the purchase of goods and services.
Through the attempted OSHA mandate, our government tried to use the power of businesses in a tyrannical way. Of course, people rely upon businesses for their livelihood. It was a stated goal to coerce 84 million unvaccinated Americans to get the COVID shot because their employer mandated it. The White House told us, “The bottom line is: Vaccination requirements work.”[i]
The problem with removing people’s informed consent through medical mandates becomes very clear when we look at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas. The White House told the story of their supposed success in increasing COVID shots uptake among their staff: “At Houston Methodist, the first organization to implement a vaccine requirement, 98% of their 25,000-person staff got vaccinated.” The hospital subsequently mandated boosters as well. It then offered a $500 bonus to any employee who got a two-dose COVID shot series to further induce compliance.
Did the mandate “work”? That depends on the end goal. It certainly induced compliance with the White House goal of vaccinating America. The hospital, however, is now facing critical staff shortages due to COVID infections despite complete compliance with shots and boosters.[ii]
The hospital also lost some staff members permanently. As reported by the Epoch Times, “153 staff members who refused to get vaccinated quit or were fired.” The Houston Methodist mandate was challenged by employees, who were told by a judge they would “simply need to work somewhere else.”[iii] But, it’s not that simple. People in the medical field, and many others, have specialized training and may not be able to find other work easily. Negotiating salaries and having the financial ability to have a gap in employment or even take a salary cut for a new job can be prohibitive.
Compliance is not consent.
Informed consent to medical care is a constitutionally protected right. When businesses or governments require medical care in exchange for access and participation in the economy or society, consent is no longer given freely. Americans should not be forced to put economic or social deprivation on the scale when weighing the risks and benefits of a medical choice.
It’s immoral and short-sighted to twist the arm of our rights to induce compliance with a medical mandate. We need look no further than Houston Methodist Hospital for a perfect illustration of the damage that can be done by mandating individual medical decisions – damage not only to personal rights, but also to the economy and credibility of an employer or business.
Steps you can take
Step One: Download and share our free printable handout on individual and business rights. You can use this guide when talking to lawmakers about this hot topic.
Step Two: If you haven’t yet told your governor and state lawmakers that the COVID shots must be voluntary, take a moment now to easily send an email to your elected officials. You can use our pre-drafted language or write your own. The important thing is that you make your voice heard. Our representatives do not know what our position is until we tell them, and they must be held accountable to their oaths to protect Constitutional rights.
References and sources
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References and sources
[i] https://www.theepochtimes.com/exclusive-large-texas-hospital-faces-staff-shortages-despite-covid-19-vaccine-mandate_4602092.html?utm_source=ref_share&utm_campaign=copy&rs=SHRKNVCB&
[ii] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/11/04/background-press-call-on-osha-and-cms-rules-for-vaccination-in-the-workplace/
[iii] https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/houston-methodist-court-ruling/3468984fc566cea5/full.pd
