‘Medical freedom’ is the latest Republican hoax

I read with dismay of the “medical freedom bill” being introduced in the Iowa Legislature by Republicans. There is no such thing as this ''freedom,” as any search of our constitutions shows; it exists only in the minds of Rep. Bobby Kaufmann and his cohorts. This bill would ban businesses from taking common-sense measures (such as vaccinations and mask wearing) to stop diseases such as COVID, measles, or even polio in their workplaces. Republicans have created this “freedom” because they feel they have to right to infect other Iowans and even shut down our economy through mass illness, rather than suffer any personal inconvenience. Incredibly, they are unaware that we are at war with a virus; they are now taking the side of the virus, no matter the cost to us all.

Do you really want your families to have to patronize businesses that have been ordered not to protect your safety? Of course not. We need to stop this nonsense now, before it becomes law and we all suffer. We deserve leaders who will act to keep us safe, not just pander to their party's “culture war.”

James Pruitt

Marion