Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is championing himself as the "medical freedom" conservative, according to Politico.
DeSantis' Prescribe Freedom campaign posted on his FlGov.com website, proposes limiting COVID-19 vaccinations and mask restrictions while protecting doctors who disagree with medical perspectives from mainstream thought.
According to FlGov.com, he intends to have a panel review the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, calling for investigations of their "crimes and wrongdoing committed against Floridians" regarding the vaccine.
Hundreds of GOP bills aimed at medical freedom have been introduced just this year, according to Politico.
"A lot of people are looking to DeSantis to see what he's doing at this point, and it gives cover to other governors ... to step out there," said Texas state Rep. Matt Schaefer, who is the chair of the state's Freedom Caucus.
Public health officials fear people are becoming more zealous as standard vaccine rates among children continue to drop.
Rupali Limaye, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Politico that she is worried DeSantis' medical freedom movement will escalate if he runs for president. "This idea of — we are going to reject, essentially, anything that is science-based because that's part of our identity," she said. "The government can't tell us what's true, what's not true. We make our own decisions. We make our own truth."
Although many of the GOP's bills are unlikely to progress, the sheer volume shows a distrust in the government and public health officials, according to observers.
Doctors expressed concern about the dropping rates of routine vaccinations among the state's kindergarteners.
"We have an incredible amount of vaccine hesitancy that has only grown worse," said Dr. Greg Savel, a pediatrician. "Whatever Gov. DeSantis says goes around here."
The medical freedom movement is not limited to Florida. According to Temple University, 65 laws in 25 states have been enacted between January 2021 and May 2022, limiting authorities' say over public health discretion during emergencies.
Bills appear to target the idea of small government, as more than 400 have been introduced just this year, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy.
One bill in Texas would allow citizens to challenge orders or other measures by the government concerning public health and emergencies so long as they "cause injury to the person or burden a right of the person that is protected by the state or federal Constitution or by a state or federal law," reported Politico.
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