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My doctor has never mandated I do anything, ever. It’s one of the reasons I trust him so much.
The relationships we have with our doctors are often the most trusted relationships of our lives. Our doctors tell us hard truths that others will not. We often tell our doctors what we will not tell others. We trust our doctors to give us the good, the bad and the ugly about our health so that each of us can make an informed decision.
Yet, we don’t always take our doctor’s advice.
We know excessive drinking or eating or a lack of exercise can all cause us harm. Heck, watch the advertisement for any drug your doctor has prescribed and you know that even your doctor’s best advice can come with substantial risk.
Ultimately these decisions rest with us as individuals, not our doctors, and certainly not the government.
Enter COVID-19, an economic shutdown, government mask mandates and now private business mandates that threaten people’s livelihoods.
As a congresswoman, I have never publicly advocated for or against taking the vaccine. I’ve never revealed my private health information, although I’ve made it clear that in the past my husband and I have made the choice to be vaccinated and to vaccinate our children. Why take that public position?
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I’ve never told others what to do with the vaccine because I am not a medical doctor and I do not believe it is the proper role of a politician or a bureaucrat to mandate what should be a personal, informed medical decision.
It is not the government’s right to tell you what to inject into your body.
In Congress, I am focused on securing your constitutional rights and personal freedoms.
When I say to beware of the "Fauci Ouchi," it is a way to cut through the clutter and communicate that the heavy hand of government should never threaten you with taking an injection you may be skeptical of or are unwilling to take. The government certainly should not be knocking on your door or offering lottery proceeds to get you take a vaccine.
One of President Trump’s great accomplishments was Operation Warp Speed, which ushered in COVID-19 vaccines in record time. Millions have taken the vaccine, millions have chosen not to. My hope is that the millions who have taken the vaccine made the right decision for themselves.
We will be judged and be forced to live with the long-term implications of how many personal freedoms we were willing to give up in the name of personal safety.
For those that want the vaccine and believe it works, take it and don’t be so concerned about those who made the decision not to. For those choosing not to, make sure it is an informed decision with your doctor.
For those deemed most at-risk, please seek medical advice from a doctor on how best to protect yourself. That does not mean forcing the rest of us from living our lives, shutting down our businesses, closing our schools or forcing us to wear masks and stripping away our right to health care privacy.
So far, my family and I have personally experienced all of that and think it is anti-American bullcrap.
They started by giving us good advice to wash our hands, avoid touching our faces and keep distanced from those that were sick for a couple of weeks.
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Since then, it’s been a nightmare driven primarily by Democrat politicians, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who mandated thousands of hospitalized elderly New Yorkers be sent to nursing homes, where many ended up unnecessarily spreading the disease and dying, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who forced mask mandates while taking hers off. Now big tech and big business are getting in the mandate business, too: Get injected, or lose your job.
We will look back and recognize the mandates forced upon us had far more to do with hypocritical, power-grabbing politicians than sound medical advice.
We will be judged and be forced to live with the long-term implications of how many personal freedoms we were willing to give up in the name of personal safety.
I am proud to stand on the side of personal freedom. I promised when I ran for public office that my four boys would never grow up in a socialist country and as long as I have something to say about it, they won’t.
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The government isn’t your doctor and neither is the news media or your employer. Life comes with plenty of risks. Have a private conversation with your medical doctor and make a personal decision that is right for you and your family.
I’ll do my best to keep everyone else out of the way.
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