Tell Your State Legislators: Don’t Give Up Control Over Public Health to the World Health Organization

Who should decide when there’s a pandemic and what to do about it?

That’s what’s at stake as the World Health Organization debates amendments to the International Health Regulations and considers a new pandemic treaty.

Currently, national governments have sovereignty over these decisions, and while they may look to the World Health Organization for guidance, ultimately, they must answer to the people of their countries and they can be held accountable under their countries’ legal frameworks.

The new agreements countries are considering at the World Health Organization is an attempt to subordinate nation states to an unelected, undemocratic, unaccountable international authority.

TAKE ACTION: Tell your state legislators to stop the World Health Organization’s power grab!

In the United States, local and state governments are in charge. The federal government can’t force them to order lockdowns or mandates, but it can and does provide assistance by making resources like masks, tests, medicines and vaccines available.

The federal government makes the rules for what happens across state lines (like plane travel), as well as in programs it administers nationwide, but the Supreme Court ruled that those powers don’t extend to being able to force employers operating in multiple states to impose vaccine mandates.

So, even though there was a huge push at the federal level for lockdowns and vaccine mandates, the power to impose them was limited and many states and localities opted out. That made it possible for Americans to vote with their feet and move from places like California and New York to states like Florida with greater respect for individuals’ health sovereignty.

Between 2020 and 2022, people left California in droves, with the number of residents leaving surpassing those moving in by nearly 700,000, and New York lost 15,000 more people than California. Meanwhile, Florida's population boomed as it took the lead as the fastest growing state.

The U.S. government has already ceded its authority over what constitutes a “public health emergency” to the World Health Organization. Our only hope is that states will assert their power over public health policy within their borders and stand strong against federal and international power grabs.

On January 19, 2017, the last day of the Obama-Biden Administration, the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine issued a final rule amending its quarantine regulations for outbreaks of new or re-emerging communicable diseases. This regulation paved the way for the COVID-19 lockdowns, and it also gave the World Health Organization the power to decide what a “Public Health Emergency” is under U.S. law.

The regulations require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to defer to the Director-General of the World Health Organization, treating any WHO Public Health Emergency of International Concern as a U.S. Public Health Emergency. The Secretary must even treat the WHO’s “temporary or standing recommendations for purposes of preventing or promptly detecting the occurrence or reoccurrence of the communicable disease” as a U.S. Public Health Emergency.

Think about that. It’s an incredibly broad authority.

We need states to stand up and resist this now, before the World Health Organization declares another global pandemic.

In May 2023, Florida passed a law that state health officials “may not adopt, implement, or enforce an international health organization’s public health policies or guidelines unless authorized to do so under state law, rule, or executive order issued by the Governor.”

In March, the Louisiana state senate unanimously approved a bill stating that “the World Health Organization, United Nations, and the World Economic Forum shall have no jurisdiction or power within the state of Louisiana.” That bill has to be approved by the state House of Representatives to become law.

TAKE ACTION: Tell your state legislators to declare their sovereignty over public health!

Personal Information

First name

Last name

Address

Apt., ste., bldg.

City

State

ZIP Code

I would like to receive Organic Consumers Association News & Action Alerts

Health Freedom

COVID-19

*SAMPLE TEXT TO YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS*

You will be able to edit this text on the next page after you enter your information.

Dear State Legislator,

Currently, public health is the province of local and state governments, but the federal government is pushing for the World Health Organization to take greater power over pandemics.

Already, in 2017, the day of the Obama-Biden Administration, the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine issued a final rule giving the World Health Organization the power to decide what a “Public Health Emergency” is under U.S. law.

The Secretary must even treat the WHO’s “temporary or standing recommendations for purposes of preventing or promptly detecting the occurrence or reoccurrence of the communicable disease” as a U.S. Public Health Emergency.

Think about that. It’s an incredibly broad authority.

In 2022, 15 state attorneys general filed a legal petition challenging the 2017 regulation. The 15 states represented were Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. Their petition points out that:

The WHO Constitution was never ratified as a treaty by two-thirds of the Senate. Instead, Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the President to participate in the WHO.
When authorizing participation in the WHO, Congress stated that it approved participation “with the understanding that nothing in the Constitution of the World Health Organization in any manner commits the United States to enact any specific legislative program regarding any matters referred to in said Constitution.”
Delegating decisions outside the executive branch allows the President and his officers to disclaim responsibility for important policy decisions, effectively rendering the key decisionmakers beyond the reach of the voting public. In contrast, keeping decisions regarding public health emergencies with HHS and not the WHO allows voters to continue having a say in whether officials are wisely using their authority.
Allowing an international organization to determine when public health emergencies exist in the United States necessarily allows that organization to use police powers that were neither given to it or to the federal government by the States.

The attorneys generals’ arguments were airtight, but the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary rejected their petition and when Texas and Oklahoma sued, the case got thrown out, with the court ruling that the states lacked “a concrete injury in fact that is traceable to the challenged definitions.”

Please read this analysis of why the lawsuit failed and what should be done now: https://open.substack.com/pub/bailiwicknews/p/on-a-july-2022-petition-filed-by

Every state should reject this power-grab!

Please do anything you can to make sure our state and localities retain their power over public health emergencies.

For all the economic hardship, pain, suffering and death they caused, the lockdowns and vaccine mandates did nothing to stop COVID-19, which continues to circle the globe infecting and sickening people, vaccinated or not, today.

Considering how badly wrong they got this last one, I don’t want any of the unelected officials at the World Health Organization ever ordering lockdowns or vaccines again.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Organic Consumers Association is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization, under the section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All charitable donations are deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
EIN: 41-1908341

Donate • Privacy Policy • Contact

Designed with ♥ by 4Site Studios