Key Bills Face Legislature

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News — CENTRAL — Health freedom is likely to be one of the key issues facing the 2022 regular session of the Louisiana Legislature, which began this week.  

Conservative lawmakers have authored a number of bills to rein in the power of the governor when he declares an emergency and to protect citizens’ freedom of choice in health care.

Two prominent groups promoting these bills are Health Freedom Louisiana and Louisiana Sunshine. This week they released a list of 23 bills they are supporting. Jill Dillingham Hines of Health Freedom Louisiana said the three most important are:

TOP THREE BILLS

HB735 by Rep Beryl Amedee prohibits mandating a medical product where the manufacturer cannot be sued for injury and provides informed consent to the consumer. The federal government has been utilizing taxpayer dollars to fund the research, development, and marketing of medical “countermeasures” to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In addition to the exorbitant amount of our money they have handed over to the pharmaceutical industry to develop these products, they have taken the extreme measure of shielding those products from liability, meaning the patient cannot sue the pharmaceutical company if they are injured or killed by their use. To add insult to injury, the federal government has strong-armed employees of both public and private businesses into using their products, often without exception. 

HB735 would prohibit mandating a medical product or procedure if you cannot sue for a harm that arises from the use of the product.  In addition, any such product would not be required for employment or educational opportunities. The bill also provides informed consent by requiring that the patient be made aware that the manufacturer of the product cannot be sued. 

HB232 by Rep Kathy Edmonston prohibits discrimination based on vaccination or immunity status everywhere in the law where discrimination is prohibited. For example, discrimination is already prohibited in employment, education, banking, insurance, housing, and human rights, based on race, religion, age, and sex. HB232 provides additional protection by prohibiting discrimination based on vaccination or immunity status. This legislation is in line with the state’s Constitution prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s physical condition. 

• HB573 by Rep Danny McCormick addresses the predatory marketing tactics of state agencies like the Louisiana Department of Health, which has aggressively targeted minors with their COVID-19 vaccination promotion campaigns, going so far as to include minors in a payment scheme to entice an uptick in vaccination rates. The shots for $100 campaign placed minors in very real danger by providing opportunities for unscrupulous adults to abuse them with repeated vaccinations in exchange for cash. This proposed legislation goes beyond LDH and includes other state agencies like the Louisiana Department of Education, where the influence adults have on a minor’s life should exclude the encouragement of the use of any kind of medical drug or procedure. 

Other important legislation includes:

HCR3 by Rep Larry Bagley suspends the Louisiana Department of Health rule change that added the COVID-19 vaccination to the list of required shots for school attendance starting in November 2022. 

HB594 by Rep Beryl Amedee recognizes the right to bodily autonomy and prohibits the government from forcing any medical product or procedure on its citizens.

SB92 by Sen. Stewart Cathey prohibits discrimination against employees based on medical history. 

HB354 by Rep Valerie Hodges prohibits local municipalities from implementing vaccination requirements or passports. This would have prevented the vaccine passport policy that New Orleans implemented. 

HB535 by Beryl Amedee prohibits insurance companies from discriminating based on vaccination status.  

HB47 by Rep Kathy Edmonston requires that students and parents be informed that they have the right to be exempted from any vaccine requirement under existing Louisiana law. 

HB12 by Rep Larry Frieman expands the legislature’s authority to terminate a declared public health emergency.  Among other things, one house of the legislature could suspend portions of an emergency order, such as a mask mandate.

HB427 by Rep Beryl Amedee prohibits the administration of vaccines to minors on school property and at school-based events. Does not affect school based health clinics. 

HB479 by Rep Larry Frieman would allow a patient advocate to administer medicine such as ivermectin to a patient who is being denied by a hospital. 

SB29 by Sen. Stewart Cathey provides free speech protection to medical professionals who have been silenced by licensing and medical boards. 

SB37 by Sen. Mike Fesi prohibits denial of healthcare by CMS based on vaccination status. 

HB54 by Rep Larry Bagley creates the crime of discrimination based on vaccination status. 

HB117 by Rep Michael Echols protects off-label use of medicines by physicians for their patients. 

HB640 by Rep Mark Wright provides that vaccines produced with aborted fetal cells be labeled as such.

HB232 by Rep Kathy Edmonston prohibits the Department of Motor Vehicles from adding vaccine information to state-issued driver’s license or identification cards.

HB407 by Rep Beryl Amedee prohibits the addition of a vaccine under Emergency Use Authorization to the required list for school attendance.  

HB428 by Rep Beryl Amedee prohibits BESE or LDOE from recommending a vaccine for school attendance. 

In addition, there are several constitutional amendments that recognize the importance of prohibiting discrimination based on an individual’s physical condition and recognizing bodily autonomy — HB53, HB177, HB596.  

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