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States Looking to Renew Dormant, Forced Vaccination Laws That Have Existed for Decades
American Freedom Information Institute Discovers Draconian and Constitutionally Questionable Laws in Several States
At the October 15, 2020, Town Hall, Vice President Biden said he is for a national mandatory vaccine through the state and local governments. Americans need to know these laws exist before the election and what the consequences could be.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 19, 2020
States Looking to Renew Dormant, Forced Vaccination Laws That Have Existed for Decades
American Freedom Information Institute Discovers Draconian and Constitutionally Questionable Laws in Several States
DELAND, FL— A group of Florida lawyers have uncovered laws that empower states to force individuals – adults and children – to take vaccines even if they don't want them or object. These laws have been quietly put on the books in the United States in recent decades without much publicity.
While these laws have largely been dormant there are growing calls for states to use this authority to force individuals to take COVID-19 vaccines.
A newly formed nonprofit, American Freedom Information Institute, Inc. (AFII) that is spearheading the research, has confirmed state laws allowing forced vaccines are on the books in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico and Virginia.
Two of these states have provisions to allow for strict enforcement of these orders. Florida’s statute includes a provision to allow its State Health Officer to use law enforcement to carry out vaccinations. Maryland’s statute permits the governor to force medical professionals to carry out forced vaccines on individuals.
Additionally, there are some states, like Pennsylvania and Montana, that have no written forced vaccine law, but have leaders stating that their state governments have power under each state’s constitution.
Many other states have statutes that allow for quarantine or isolation.
AFII has relied heavily upon each state’s “Pandemic Benchguide,” which includes a wealth of information on these laws and insight into what judges are thinking.
The AFII President, R. Shawn McBride, is drawing attention to how these state laws are buried on the books but are not referenced on websites or health guides. He also warns there could be more laws in other states that have not been found yet.
“Many lawyers and citizens are shocked and appalled to learn that their states have laws that give state governments the power to actually force vaccines upon persons in their territory,” said Mr. McBride. “People feel betrayed. What stuns citizens is the stealthy way these legislators have gotten these laws passed.”
To date, several lawyers have done extensive research on AFII’s behalf to fully understand how these laws work. Many of these forced vaccine laws have similar provisions, but who is empowered, the extent of powers and exemptions (or lack thereof) vary greatly from state to state.
Adding to the confusion many residents think because they have an exemption under one set of vaccine laws (like employer required or school required) they can avoid these forced vaccinations. But that is not the case. Just because someone has an exemption under one vaccine law doesn't mean they'll be able to use it under another vaccine law.
Supreme Court Ruling May Uphold This Power
If all this isn’t alarming enough, the United States Supreme Court rulings may uphold this power, despite the common assumption that forcing a vaccine would be unconstitutional, according to McBride. The precedent-setting case, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, most commonly cited by attorneys and legal scholars to argue against rights to decline vaccines, has been cited by many governments for things from vaccines to mask mandates. Many legal scholars say this 115-year-old case is outdated because the courts have updated their analysis of civil liberty issues.
“There are cases where the Constitution was upheld despite Jacobson being used to argue against rights,” said McBride. “But the question is how many people could be harmed by a fast-tracked vaccine lacking standard trials and long-term studies before the Supreme Court would ever revisit Jacobson and give an update?”
Adding to the questions on Jacobson v. Massachusetts beyond its 115-year-old age is that the opinion was written by a slaveholder and carries forward many of the same notions of slavery: mainly forcing someone to do something against their will for the controlling person's benefit. Also, Jacobson didn't hold the legislature to a “strict scrutiny” standard of review which many legal analysts think would be needed in modern forced vaccine law to be constitutional.
Due to the associated risks associated with vaccines, a strict scrutiny analysis would require legislatures to examine risks and also find there are no less restrictive ways to meet the state's objectives. While pharmaceutical companies spend little time talking about risks, they do acknowledge it. In a statement made to Reuters in July, 2020, Ruud Dobber, a member of AstraZeneca’s senior executive team stated that the company “simply cannot take the [financial] risk if in ... four years the vaccine is showing side effects.”
AFII board member, Dr. Carrie Madej, explained that vaccines always have risks: “No matter how much testing is done and how careful vaccine manufacturers are some people will have adverse reactions,” said Dr. Madej. “As a doctor, I really want to be able to discuss these risks with my patients rather than have the state make a medical decision for them. It is disturbing to the doctor-patient relationship when some politician that has never met my patient makes a medical decision for them.”
Florida’s Law Gives Sole Power to the State Health Officer
The most extensive research has been done on the state of Florida. Florida Statute 381.00315 gives great power -- independent of the Governor -- to the State Health Officer (also Surgeon General) Dr. Rivkees, to force a vaccine. The statute is vaguely written without any mention of medical or religious exemptions, unlike Florida’s childhood vaccine law, and falls under the guise of public health and safety. It also specifies use of police force if necessary.
Florida Statutes 381.00315 and 381.003 are constitutionally questionable and by all views would be considered draconian. The law was amended in 2002 and the legislative notes concluded that the statute might be constitutional under Jacobson vs. Massachusetts stating that they didn't expect a forced vaccine. Yet the law does have a forced vaccine authority under it, so it appears the state legislature relied on a faulty analysis.
Dr. Rivkees has disclosed that Florida will be taking part in the COVID 19 vaccine pilot, but seems to be making decisions on COVID-19 vaccines with little or no public input. The media releases have given very limited details given on what this trial will include.
Furthermore, many media outlets and others have made requests for records from the state health office to see what the office is planning and they are not getting their requests, which they are legally entitled to under Florida's Sunshine law, fulfilled by the State Health Office.
The American Freedom Information Institute is requesting any and all internal documents related to mandating a vaccine as well as transcripts and summaries of all discussions on mandating a vaccine. However, citizen requests to date have gone unanswered.
Florida Cites Law on State’s Quarantine Form Signed By Travelers
The state has been printing its authority to force vaccines on the state quarantine form without giving citizens any knowledge of this law prior to signing the form. Many individuals and families arriving in Florida are surprised when told they have to sign the form.
AFII has gotten many reports of individuals being told, in flight, that they have to complete – and sign – the form to leave the airplane. A few have read the form and been shocked by the State's assertion of authority to force vaccines being put in print and needing their signature.
Florida Quarantine Form Travelers Are Forced To Sign
https://www.floridaairports.org/media/203961/covid-19-airport-traveler-formv2.pdf COVID-19 Vaccine Makers Immune From Liability
Several companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, currently testing a COVID-19 vaccine have liability protection under the 1986 Act, the PREP Act and other negotiated contracts. The net effect of the federal laws and liability waivers is that vaccine manufacturers generally don't have to worry about the side effects or adverse consequences of their products. It is believed that most people that would be injured by a Covid-19 vaccine would have little or no little recourse to recover money for their medical injuries.
The Consequence of Liability-Free Medical Procedures
The medical community classifies vaccines as medical procedures, just as surgical sterilizations, lobotomies or mastectomies are considered. The risks can be severe in any medical procedure, but the difference with vaccines is that the manufacturers are immune from civil liability and cannot be sued when a child suffers a vaccine-inflicted injury or death, due to the federal law of the land.
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) codified and gave vaccine makers immunity from civil liability for damages arising from vaccine-related injuries and deaths that result from “unavoidable” side effects; and created a compensation program for the victims.
To date, more than $4 billion has been paid out to families who have suffered vaccine-inflicted injuries and deaths. That is a big number but even more alarming, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded Harvard Pilgrim study, only 1-10% of actual vaccine adverse reactions are ever reported. The real damage is, therefore, far greater. The amount paid out could have been anywhere from between $40-400 billion if the true number of injuries were recorded and reported.
Traumatic, Life Threatening Vaccine Injury is Real
Dr. Nicholas Gauthier, Au.D. CCC-A, a father of three and a former firefighter, was severely injured by a tetanus vaccine required for his dream job as a clinical audiologist for the U.S. Department of Defense. He was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), hearing loss and suffers from other chronic, life-altering side effects. He is unsure if he will fully recover or ever be able to work again. More than 40 doctors were involved in his care during his initial adverse event in 2019, but none could say whether his condition would be permanent or temporary. Soon after, the neurology team involved in his care issued a medical exemption from all future vaccines.
“After barely surviving acute, life-threatening injuries to my spine and central nervous system that doctors couldn’t identify or cure, I can’t comprehend how an individual – whether a judge, politician or doctor – could force any vaccine onto a man, woman or child,” said Dr. Gauthier.
Dr. Gauthier has spent the past year and half fighting with the insurance and healthcare systems to get the care that he needs to try to stabilize after being injured to the point of saying goodbye to his family.
“Once someone has suffered a vaccine injury, that person has the sole responsibility physically, emotionally and financially to deal with the consequences, therefore they should be the ones making the decision. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.”
To learn more about Dr. Gauthier’s story, visit https://bit.ly/3dth4Kd.
Statutes and other References:
Arizona
https://codes.findlaw.com/az/title-36-public-health-and-safety/az-rev-st-sect-36-787.html
Arizona Forced Vaccination Statute
Florida
Florida Forced Vaccination Statute
Georgia
Georgia Forced Vaccination Statute
Illinois
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=330&ChapterID=5
Illinois Forced Vaccination Statute
Maryland
Maryland Forced Vaccination Statute
Massachusetts
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVI/Chapter111/Section181
Maryland Forced Vaccination Statute
New Mexico
New Mexico Forced Vaccination Statute
Virginia (Powers of Commissioner in epidemic)
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title32.1/chapter2/section32.1-48/
Virginia Forced Vaccination Law Statute
Texas (see Sec. 81.082)
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/HS/htm/HS.81.htm
Texas Forced Vaccination Law Statute
Florida Health Depart COVID-19 Airport Traveler Form
https://www.floridaairports.org/media/203961/covid-19-airport-traveler-formv2.pdf
Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905)
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/197/11/
Florida Pandemic Benchguide
https://www.flcourts.org/content/download/218114/1974630/pandemic_benchguide.pdf
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
https://www.hrsa.gov/vaccine-compensation/index.html
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
https://vaers.hhs.gov/
About American Freedom Information Institute
AFII is a grassroots-based non-profit. Its mission is to spread seeds of knowledge and inform citizens on freedom issues such as forced vaccine laws. Its goal is to also teach citizens how they can change laws. For more information, visit www.amfreedomii.com.
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To schedule media interviews with R. Shawn McBride or Dr. Carrie Madej, please contact Shawn McBride.
MEDIA CONTACT:
R. Shawn McBride
(407) 349-3085
[email protected]