(Headline USA) Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed legislation this week to permanently ban all COVID-19 mandates in the state.
Blasting the “biomedical security state” that imposed mask and vaccine mandates on the public, DeSantis said his plan would “prescribe freedom” and maintain “protections for free speech for medical practitioners.”
“When the world lost its mind, Florida was a refuge of sanity, serving strongly as freedom’s linchpin,” he said on Tuesday. “These measures will ensure Florida remains this way and will provide landmark protections for free speech for medical practitioners.”
DeSantis’s proposal would ban “COVID-19 masks requirements throughout the state,” “vaccine and mask requirements in all schools,” “vaccine passports in Florida,” and prohibit “employers from hiring or firing based on mRNA jabs.”
Across the country, freedom has been stripped from The People in the name of public health.
Not in Florida.
Today @GovRonDeSantis announced he will end any remaining unscientific restrictions – permanently.
On behalf of a grateful state, thank you, Gov! pic.twitter.com/3bRC4skaEO
— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) January 17, 2023
The goal of the plan, said DeSantis, is to protect “medical freedom of choice” and “medical freedom of speech.”
“Being the free state of Florida did not happen by accident,” DeSantis said. “It required us over the past few years to stand against major institutions in our society: The bureaucracy, the medical establishment, legacy media, and even the President of the United States who, together, were working to impose a biomedical security state on society.”
DeSantis cited the Biden administration’s continued extension of the COVID-19 national emergency declaration.
“This is just nuts that we’re still doing this,” he said.
Dr. Joseph Ladapo, the Florida surgeon general, said the legislation is especially important to combat cancel culture in the scientific community.
“As a health sciences researcher and physician, I have personally witnessed accomplished scientists receive threats due to their unorthodox positions,” Ladapo said in a statement. “However, many of these positions have proven to be correct, as we’ve all seen over the past few years. All medical professionals should be encouraged to engage in scientific discourse without fearing for their livelihoods or their careers.”
