Some of you may have heard the news, here are the full details!
 
The relentless calls and emails from the members and followers of Hoosiers for Medical Liberty FORCED the Indiana State Legislature to include language to prohibit the state or local government from issuing a vaccine passport program. We are so grateful for the efforts of all those calling on behalf of Medical Liberty! 
Throughout the legislative season your persistent voice was undeniable. You have worked so hard and it shows. From our start with SB74 all the way through multiple amendments late in session you continued to persevere with calls to various legislators. They knew you were not going to cease until they took action. You must acknowledge that YOU were the key to this success through calls, emails, and in person meetings. Please take pride in this feat because the legislature truly did not want to do this!
It was interesting to watch as this all unfolded over the last two weeks. As you remember we had a couple amendments that courageous House Representative Curt Nisly and House Representative John Jacob worked to bring forward. Because of their actions the House was forced to go on record about Medical Liberty. As the amendments failed and others were prevented from seeing the light of day YOU continued to shine light on the intensity of the issue. As a result, the house tripped all over themselves to try to save face on the issue of medical liberty by adding policy to HB1405 in conference committee.
However, the last-minute effort by leadership to cover their backsides resulted in a weak policy. Some of you have already noticed a couple different flaws. This language only prevents the state and local government from instituting a passport program. It does not provide protections to ensure that you can get your groceries, attend gatherings, recreational events, or access different means of transportation without showing proof of vaccination. To say they fell short is an understatement. The bill also left out protections against invasive testing. Due to this negligence, the local and state government along with the public sector can still require you to show proof of invasive testing.
They have made a grave mistake in thinking that these mere breadcrumbs will satiate our ravenous appetite for the Medical Liberty we are guaranteed! Hoosiers, we CAN and WILL do better. They may think that we are packing up and going home, but we just getting started. WE WILL not settle for anything less than high quality and principled medical liberty legislation.
Inclosing, I just want to thank you again. Thank you for standing together, your voices joined together and made this happen. I am inspired by your hard work and Hoosiers for Medical Liberty will not rest until our rights are secured!
 
Thank you,
Ashley Grogg RN-MSN
Hoosiers for Medical Liberty
Founder

P.S. you can still sign the petition for immunity passport purge by clicking petitions above!

For the past couple weeks Hoosiers for Medical Liberty has been working to figure out a way to protect Hoosiers from Immunity Passports. We finally had our chance, and the House of Representatives REFUSED to vote on Medical Liberty though they had multiple opportunities to do so.

You may have received our calls to action regarding the amendments that Representative Jacob & Representative Nisly would hopefully be presenting. You all did such an amazing job that the house could feel you watching. They know we will not back down. In a weak attempt to appear as if they were taking action several medical liberty amendments were prepared, but they fell far short of those filed by Representative Nisly & Representative Jacob. Ultimately, when it came down to the wire and the house was about to be forced to take a stand on Medical Liberty they refused to take the vote.

If this bothers you, I encourage you to pick up the phone and tell your State Representative “I will not accept a weak stance on Medical Liberty. You must make a principled ban on immunity passports including vaccination status and invasive testing. It would benefit you take a moment to find a way to do it this year.”

That is the single best way to describe how I am feeling in relation to the events that occurred at the Indiana State House yesterday. Indiana currently has a “republican super-majority.” Prior to this year I wouldn’t have had any idea what that meant. In short, it means that the Republicans can make laws without any of the Democratic vote.

There is absolutely no reason that a new law ushering in the immunity passport purge shouldn’t have been created before they hit the streets of Indiana. Instead, the Indiana House of Representatives refused to do so. I watched in disgust as the scene unfolded. House session started at 11:00 am when concurrences were read and then recess was called. Recess was lunch and caucus. The House session did not resume until nearly 5:30pm. You have to ask yourself WHY.

So let’s break down what we saw. I will cut straight to the portion pertaining to Medical Liberty. SB325 was brought up with multiple amendments to be heard. Several amendments on the bill addressed Medical Liberty. Only two of them would be addressed.

Representative Brad Barrett (R), presented a weak amendment that would prohibit a business from requiring someone to disclose if they had a COVID vaccination prior to entry and carrying a penalty of up to $10,000. The House watched as several people came up and questioned Rep. Barrett. It was difficult to tell if Rep. Barrett even believed in the amendment he presented. I encourage you to watch it for yourself and decide if he really had any intention of defending his amendment. Interestingly, after the charade but BEFORE a vote could be taken the amendment was ruled “out of order.” Meaning that the amendment did not apply to the overall bill and it was discarded. Ask yourself WHY they waited until after they had heard all the arguments against the amendment? Perhaps they wanted to show how “difficult” or “controversial” the issue was? Who knows.

If you watch, you will see a stark contrast from the respect shown to Representative Barrett as compared to when State Representative Curt Nisly attempted to present his amendment. If Rep Nisly’s amendment had gone through, Hoosier policy would have prevented any establishment from requiring proof of vaccination OR invasive testing prior to entry and violation would result in a class A misdemeanor.

Representative Nisly was truly representing the immunity passport purge. Leadership does not want to give you the protection you deserve. Representative Nisly barely got out a full sentence before getting cut off and being called out of order. Representative Nisly bravely stood his ground, challenged the ruling, and was sharply interrupted while he attempted to share how the amendment was pertinent to the bill. It was interesting because his first line was regarding the New Albany Hospital restricting birth support persons based on vaccination status. Ultimately the rest of the house, with the exception of Representative John Jacob, decided they would not hear the amendment.

Senate Bill 197 was also on the schedule for the day.  This bill held an equally strong amendment written by Representative John Jacob. Leadership had heard your calls Monday. They knew how important the immunity passport purge was, but rather than giving Rep. Jacob the opportunity to speak or rather REPRESENT YOU, they chose to kill the bill creating new criminal law. Your calls put them in a position in which they could not stand the thought of going on record and voting against medical liberty or creating policy that would ensure your Medical Liberty was protected.

I know this was a long post. I know that it can be very confusing trying to figure out what happens down in Indy. it is overwhelming to say the least. I hope that by walking through the events of the day a couple things have been made clear, but invite you to watch for yourself.

1. Your calls matter. Your Voice was heard.
2. We must not back down and we must continue to consistently communicate with the legislature. Once it is realized that we will not relent and we will be represented the way we see fit, we will have policy.

Please take this moment to call your legislator and tell them:

What a wonderful week!
Earlier this week we pushed a call out in support of our Front line Heroes.

Last week one of our members brought up SB232.  The bill itself had good intentions. Previously our Heroes would not be eligible for the benefits and adding this diagnosis to the legislation would rectify the egregious policy. Unfortunately, there was language in the current code that would require firefighters, LEOs, and EMS to get a Coronavirus Vaccination in order to be eligible for their death and disability benefits if they developed COVID in the line of duty and were disabled or passed away as a result.

We saw the injustice in this legislation and knew it was something we could not allow to slip through the cracks. We knew the implications of this portion of the code could cause hardship and even devastation for our front line heroes. Hoosiers for Medical Liberty will not stand for Medical injustice and we will fight for the rights of Hoosiers.

Typically addressing issues like this are not on the forefront of legislators minds or on their list of things to do. Vaccination and the right to choose are “taboo” subjects for the Indiana State legislature. Hoosiers for Medical Liberty is breaking down this stigma and we will ensure that these conversations take place and are appropriately handled. Fortunately for us, State Representative Curt Nisly and John Jabob have shown that they are willing to put their necks on the line for their constituents time and time again! Reps Nisly and Jacob have consistently demonstrated a willingness to go against the grain, and stand up for Medical Liberty. It was because of their initial no-nonsense amendments that the ball started rolling on changes to SB232.  When you see them, be sure to tell them how you appreciate their willingness to bring forth such great amendments.

The work did not stop there though, Hoosiers for Medical Liberty excels in advocacy, education, and support of Hoosiers and that is exactly what we got to work doing. We were able to reach out to Tony Murry with Hamilton County Fire Fighters Local 4416 to provide clarity, discuss the issue, and the potential impact on firefighters, LEO, and EMS. We encouraged him to follow up with the legislators he was working with to ensure the issue was addressed. He was incredibly thankful for our insight and work to protect our public servants.

We already had amendments on the books, political process dictates the importance of communication with the bill author/sponsor. With the help of Rep Nisly, we were able to get in contact with the sponsor of the bill State Rep Chris Judy. He was open to discussing the issue and reported that he would see what he could do. We didn’t hear back from him however an amendment proposed by State Rep Randy Frye was filed for the hearing the next day.

We are very pleased to see the amendment be accepted on Tuesday eliminating the offending language all together. Thursday SB232 passed the house 89-0, securing the right to disability and death benefits to our front line heroes FREE of the stipulation of getting the experimental covid-19 vaccination. We look forward to future Medical Liberty wins with collaboration between State Representatives Curt Nisly, John Jacob, Chris Judy, and Randy Frye.
 
If you appreciate the work done for our front line heroes and medical Liberty please call the offices of Reps Nisly, Jacob, Judy, and Frye with a simple message. “Thank you for supporting the Medical Liberty of our Front line heroes with amendments to SB232!” You can see the numbers below.

To get the numbers straight to your phone you can text 260-286-0988 the word SB232

• If you have not become a member please do so! We still have more work to do and would love to have you join us.
• You can attend our virtual meetings the second Wednesday of the month.
• In person meetings are starting and Fort Wayne had one last night. If you missed it and are in the area please text 260-286-0988 the word “FORT WAYNE” to get reminders.
• If you are not near Fort Wayne but want to attend or help coordinate meetings in your area please see our H4ML Near Me page.
• Want more education on political tactics? Attend a FACL class, REGISTER NOW!
  • New Albany 4/10
  • Fort Wayne 5/15
  • Anderson 6/19
• Of course don’t forget to share this exciting and important Medical Liberty win with all your friends!
  

 
 
Thank you again for all your support, calls, and encouragement,
Ashley

Call the following reps with the simple message: ““Thank you for supporting the Medical Liberty of our Front line heroes with amendments to SB232!”

Curt Nisly District 22
Legislative Assistant: Dolan Monroe
Phone: 317-234-3827 | 1-800-382-9841
 
John Jacob District 93
Legislative Assistant: Evan Eagleson
Phone: 317-232-9648 | 1-800-382-9841
 
Chris Judy District 84
Legislative Assistant: Andrea Zimmerman
Phone: 317-232-9863 | 1-800-382-9841
 
Randy Frye District 67
Legislative Assistant: Rachel Swartwood
Phone: 317-234-9450