It’s been ten days and we need to get this information out so that people truly understand what the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has done with their January 13th “ruling,” what to expect in the future, and what actions we should take in the present.
Not a Constitutional Win!
A true constitutional win would be one where the SCOTUS would look at any/all of the vaccine mandates being pushed by the federal government and say, once and for all, that the federal government has no delineated power to dictate vaccines or other health policies to employers or employees in the United States. As we’ve observed in the past, the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution states (in its entirety):
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution
NO powers have been delegated to the US government on anything related to public health, including requiring or prohibiting the citizens from putting something into their bodies. Read through the entire US Constitution as amended and you will not find any delegated power delineated in the document. The 10th Amendment covers it from there.
The beauty of our federal republic (in theory) is that central authority is extremely limited and most of the power belongs to the states, which still derive their authority from the people.
If you’d like more information on this, please check out the Tenth Amendment Center’s very informative video on this topic, where they share that these SCOTUS opinions are “A little good news and a bunch of bad news.”
SCOTUS’ True Action
Though we know that the court hasn’t ruled on the ability for the federal government to make such mandates in general, let’s look at what they’ve actually done.
OSHA Mandate — Struck Down
The OSHA mandate affecting employers with more than 100 employees was struck down. This is a big deal and certainly a victory for more than 84 million employees who would otherwise have been required to either accept a series of jabs or take a recurring COVID test. SCOTUS’ reasoning was not because the federal government doesn’t have any such authority (again: I contend that they don’t), but because OSHA has not been granted any such authority. They clearly left the door open for Congress to take action on this. As stated in the majority opinion written by Justice Gorsuch “power rests with the States and Congress, not OSHA.” (bottom of the PDF’s 15th page in the opinion).
HHS Mandate — Upheld
The court upheld the Health and Human Services rule that requires health workers to be vaccinated when their activities participate in (receive funding from) Medicaid and Medicare. Certainly the court thought the US government could require mandates of these people because their efforts are funded by the federal government. I believe this is a horrible travesty, but perhaps many will still decline the vaccinations and opt for practices that aren’t corrupted by federal influences.
Federal Employees and Federal Contractors — Not Addressed (Upheld)
Much like the HHS mandate above, we can easily extrapolate that the SCOTUS would agree with forcing vaccinations on the federal employees (including the military) and federal contractors because they are either part of the federal government or federally-funded. Mandates for these workers were NOT covered in this opinion.
Will the Federal Government Double-Down?
With SCOTUS stating that it’s up to Congress to push mandates on employees across the country, expect some members of congress to propose laws to mandate COVID injections, even as the narrative is crumbling. To back down now would be to state that the COVID narrative was overblown and wrong from the beginning (as I have been saying since around April of 2020), and those politicians were either duped or lying. Pushing proven-ineffective vaccines and boosters on people at this point would be much more about saving face and exerting authority than about anybody’s health.
Here’s the real question: The Mayo Clinic’s site says that 63% of Americans are fully vaccinated, but that leaves the remainder as people who are either unvaccinated or have not accepted the boosters. As the narrative crumbles and as we move into an election year, nearly every member of the US House of Representatives will want to keep their seats by being reelected. Do they want to risk reelection by taking an authoritarian approach?
Take Action at the Every Level!
Please note that there are actions every one of us can and should take to stop further mandates and roll back the mandates that are still in place today:
- Contact your representative at the US House, remind them of the coming elections, and ensure they know you DO NOT support such mandates. They would only pursue injection mandate legislation at their peril.
- If either of your senators are up for reelection in 2022, do the same with them. Ohio is in a tough spot, here, because Senator Portman is retiring and inherently tougher to influence.
- Reach out to your state representatives and senators, asking them to stand up against unconstitutional vaccination mandates using nullification. Again, remind them that elections will take place this year.
- Join the National Libertarian Party and the Libertarian Party of Ohio (or whatever state you live in).
- Reach out to your county affiliate and get involved!