Op-Ed: Bedke, Gov. Little should call the Legislature back to session

By Wayne Hoffman • August 16, 2021

Throughout the country, people are being coerced to surrender control over their bodies and their medical privacy. Petty tyrants abound, in government offices and in corporate headquarters. Supposedly free Americans are being told that their right to work, travel, shop, and congregate will be severely abridged if they don’t inject a foreign substance into their bodies. Our society is quickly being divided into vaccinated and unvaccinated, with the latter facing discrimination if they don’t comply.

This is also true in Idaho, where residents are about to find out their right to freely travel and enjoy life will be curtailed if they do not submit to an experimental medical procedure.

Both House Speaker Scott Bedke and Gov. Brad Little have the power to call the Legislature back to session to stop the madness. Contrary to protests by the lefitst business lobby Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, this is not an employer-employee relationship issue.

This is, instead, about basic human rights, protected by our country’s founding documents. It’s about the torment of Idahoans who must be free to exercise their unalienable, God-given rights in any setting. It is the proper role of government to act in the interest of protecting those rights.

Compelling someone to inject something into their bodies is a form of assault. Ordering people to disclose their medical statuts is an invasion of privacy. These are tangible issues for lawmakers to deliberate, and time is running short to do so, with medical mandates being implemented as I write this.

With the House in recess since May, Bedke has the power to bring the Legislature back. I urge all Idahoans to call or write Bedke immediately. His office phone number is 208-332-1111. His email sbedke@house.idaho.gov. Gov. Little has always had the constitutional authority to call the Legislature back as well. His phone number is 208-334-2100. His email is governor@gov.idaho.gov. Tell them:

It is wrong for anyone to coerce another human being to inject or ingest something into their body, or use duress — including the threat of loss of income or travel — to convince a person to undergo a health procedure.
Nobody should be required to carry with them, display, or sign up for a tracking device that discloses their medical records to enter a business, building, or establishment or enjoy or pursue their constitutionally-protected rights.
Hundreds of millions of dollars flow to organizations that are implementing vaccine mandates. It is the responsibility of the Legislature to make certain that taxpayer money isn’t being used, directly or indirectly, to sustain such coercion.
States exist to fight coercion by the federal government. Thousands of federal employees living in Idaho face the threat of forced vaccination if the state does nothing. By not acting, Idaho lawmakers, especially Bedke, are giving cover to the Biden administration to order Idahoans to undergo injections.
There is nothing preventing Idaho schools from mandating certain vaccines of students, teachers, volunteers, and even parents. Lawmakers should act to prevent the possibility of exploitation.

This is time for Bedke and Little to demonstrate leadership on an issue of growing concern for Idahoans. Tell them to not delay any longer. It’s time for the Legislature to get to work.