I believe that respecting each other’s freedom is what makes America exceptional. It is the right thing to do. But what a wonderful miracle, that on balance respecting freedom results in much else that is good, including better health and more happiness.
I believe that vaccines sometimes have bad side effects, but that on balance some vaccines are among the greatest contributions to human health.
But we should convince, not mandate. We should respect freedom because that is what is moral to do. And if we do, there will be more medical innovation; more and faster cures.
(p. A11) Ms. Wilson’s organization, Stand for Health Freedom, has become part of a grassroots push . . . . . . . To Ms. Wilson, those involved have coalesced around one idea: “There’s roles for government, and telling us how to care for our bodies is not one of them.”
. . .
Stand for Health Freedom is a young organization, but the wider movement “goes to the very roots of America,” said Lewis A. Grossman, a professor at American University’s law school who has studied the history of libertarianism.
“There’s always been a robust portion of Americans who embrace these values,” Mr. Grossman said. As early as 1902, organizations like the American Medical Liberty League were pushing for freedom from vaccine mandates. In the 1950s, the John Birch Society and National Health Federation took up the cause. In 1975, a group opposed to water fluoridation in Rockland County, N.Y., called itself the Citizens for Health Freedom.
But by and large, these groups and others like them existed outside the mainstream. Starting in the 1960s, however, American trust in institutions began to wane.
. . .
Then, Covid struck and cities were locked down. Public health officials also fumbled critical early messaging, painting the vaccines as a “miracle” that would provide permanent immunity, said Michael T. Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
“We really lost credibility, because that’s not what happened,” Dr. Osterholm said.
Suddenly, medical freedom became a salient issue to many more Americans, and resistance to Covid restrictions became their unifying principle. . . .
Much of that growth occurred online, as people lost faith in traditional medical institutions and searched for like-minded thinkers, Dr. Osterholm said. New supporters flocked to Ms. Wilson’s organization as it took on all sorts of causes.
. . .
As it grew, Ms Wilson’s organization gained support from a politically diverse group of advocates. Roughly 40 percent of the people who have taken action on the platform are Democrats, she claimed. Ms. Wilson saw this as evidence that “there are plenty of people who care about being the one who makes the ultimate health decisions for their children,” she said.
“This is common sense,” she added, “not strange or rare.”
For the full story see:
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(Note: the online version of the story was updated Dec. 31, 2024, and has the title “How ‘Health Freedom’ Became a Winning Rallying Cry.”)