There is a lot to cover when reflecting on almost 8 full months of nonstop activism. I’m not sure I’ll be able to cover it all — actually, I’m certain I won’t. (So it will likely come in chapters/multiple posts)
Right after SB276 had been introduced, I attended a town hall meeting put on by Melissa Floyd + Dr. Bob Sears at the start of the legislation period, I want to say this was March. The town hall was packed at the large chiropractic office we met at, each room filled to its capacity and a live stream of the next room where the actual town hall was being held. I was lucky enough to attend and be in that very room seated next to my husband and my dear friend Ally in the far back right corner. Melissa had put together an incredible resource for all of us, spoke passionately about our fight and empowered a room full of strangers to “Get off their asses,” and get to work. That room left feeling called to act and empowered to do so. That is when I decided I couldn’t be silent anymore the way I had been put out by SB277 in 2015.
You see, after SB277 passed, I felt defeated, and honestly, a little embarrassed. I made such a ruckus and threw quite a bit of shade that in the end held no ground to onlookers and fell on deaf ears. No one else really cared, only those it was also affecting. I surmised it best to keep my head down, I figured out plan b for my son who was set to start Kinder the year SB277 went into effect, and I moved on with my life. My voice, my action, my speaking out on the matter went dormant. I stopped speaking out because MY child was “safe" now and we found a solution for HIM. What I didn’t realize is the minute I stopped speaking out was the minute I allowed my guard to go down in protecting my own children. But it was also the moment I stopped standing up for the thousands of children still under siege of medical tyranny.
I didn’t realize this was a continuous war then. So I settled. I thought we could stay “safe” long enough to make it through.
In a way, it was almost as if I allowed myself to believe that SB277 was acceptable, I convinced myself — “We could live with this.” But these overreaching draconian bills have never and will never be acceptable so long as there are still children being brought into this world. It is not acceptable for medical professionals to bully women, children, or any patients into any decision regarding their health. It is not acceptable to segregate healthy children from society. It is not acceptable to relinquish the rights of a person of any age to their own bodily autonomy and force risks of permanent injury, death or to their long term well being and livelihood. It is not acceptable for the government to use coercion by means of legislation to shame, bully, and force families into irreversible decisions to partake in society, have access to education, to government assistance, quality healthcare, etc… As humans, we have the innate right to our own bodies. Our children have the right to an education that the state provides as written in our constitution. We ALL should have the right to maintain legal protection against any forces into or onto our bodies, especially those that have already caused severe repercussions to our long term well being, livelihood, permanent injury or even death. This has always been what we are fighting for, the bones of this have never changed.
Senator Richard Pan built his own opposition from the ground up, what he didn’t realize is that we’d all catch on - not to the diseases he so desperately guarantees we are susceptible to carrying, but to the toxic overload, the rise of autoimmunity, to the over-va//ination of our children and the onset of medical issues directly following. Inevitably, after SB277 went into effect thousands of more children were affected by va//ine injury which in turn meant thousands of more families waking up to the truth — that va//ine injury is very real and that va//ines are in fact not safe and not effective. The passing of SB277 brought forth a new wave of perceived “Antiva//ers” or “Va//ine Hesitant” parents and va//ine injured children, more families who realized just how crucial their medical freedom is to the livelihood of their children and for themselves. Because of this, our movement has grown exponentially and will continue to do so as the number of injured children and informed families continue to grow. Without meaning to, Senator Richard Pan recruited us an army.
The difference between SB277 and SB276 is this army will not go back to sleep. We will not get comfortable in our individual solutions and expect others to fend for themselves. We have grown in force, power, and determination to educate, empower, and activate this nation. We will not rest until the truth is acknowledged. We will not rest until the vast majority, (or in CA’s case, the house majority,) begins to #believemothers and starts working with our children and our families to provide viable solutions to the real health epidemics plaguing our children and the future generations to come.
After SB277 passed we all felt defeated, deflated, and tired. Some of us are likely feeling that now after SB276. We all found our solutions, held our breath and then — we got comfortable.
Well guys, there’s no such thing as comfortable in CA anymore. The state and this country has waged war on our children and we will not accept our kids at the front lines of fire. This is not their war to fight, it’s ours. It is time to rise up! (It’s time to rise up! It’s time to rise up!)
It’s been 3 weeks ( I wrote this over a week ago) since SB276 and SB714 was signed in to law. I have said this multiple times now — it is not up to the leaders of this movement to tell us what to do. It is not up to them to decide what we individually will commit to or what we take action on. I know we have all needed some time to digest the events of the last 8 months but do not let it put your fire out. It’s time for you to commit to this cause - choose what you know you are best at and use it for this movement.
For me personally, I have been having a hard time figuring out exactly what my place in this movement will be, what roles I should take on, and where my energy and efforts will be the most effective. I took the last two weeks to assimilate back to my daily life with kids, homeschooling, and family life and it was very much needed to be able to know that moving forward I will need to find a balance and not polarize my whole life the way it has been the last 8 months. As I continue fighting for my children’s safety, rights, and ALL of our Medical Freedoms I know I will need to start scheduling my time as if this is my second full time job. I am working closely with a number of organizations and will share information when I have it or when more grassroots is needed. I’m confident our movement can get organized (and that I can too) but until I do, it will likely be sporadic blog posts, instagram stories, occasional posts, links, and resources as I come across them and when I actually get a moment to focus. All that to say, it’s time you take some matters in to your own hands.
Many of us know our general strengths and those are what we need to hone in on and start utilizing. Build relationships with your legislators, talk about other issues, write legislation with them. If that’s not your thing, constantly write letters — to your legislators, to establishments, to your school boards, set up meetings with your local school board, the special education department, meet with your pediatrician, or other health professionals, take a class or join a training on something specific that helps you build on your knowledge and create a place in this movement for yourself. Join local efforts to unseat politicians who did not listen, who did not support us, who were blatantly disrespectful. Host fundraisers to help fund your incumbent’s potential opponent. RUN for office, support people on our side who are willing to do that, donate your own time and money into helping promote opponents to those who opposed us. Use your graphic design skills to help create clean, functional infographics with easy to digest facts. Use your event planning skills to host a fundraiser. Use your leadership skills to create a local group in your area. Use your marketing skills to create informative videos, ads, handouts, or help advise social media calls to actions. Share your story. Be loud about it.
Now, lastly, if we want to be effective for the long run we will all need to start or continue educating ourselves on a multitude of things. I know many of us are well versed and have done our research, but if you are still one of the few who doesn’t yet have their facts down where you can easily site something or have answers to some commonly asked questions, (myself included) it’s time to get organized. If you do not va//inate and you plan to be in this fight for our kids then you need to know why you don’t. As much as it is degrading for body autonomy not to be enough of a reason, we HAVE to prove ourselves. We also need to start getting familiar with our government, how our legislature works, how bills are made, who our representatives are, what they stand for, who their potential candidates may be, how to raise funds for legislators or candidates and how to meet with them. We cannot move the needle here in CA to be balanced, if we don’t understand how our government works. Sadly, I knew very little about the legislative process before February but I quickly had to learn as much as I could in the last 6-8 months and I continue to grow in my knowledge of government and politics today.
It is no longer enough to just have a story, it is no longer enough to just have had that feeling, it is no longer enough to just show up when a va//ine bill pops up, and it is no longer enough to just “vote them out.” We need to show up everyday for battle. We are fighting the good fight. We are fighting for our children. We are fighting for their children. We are fighting for freedom. Will you join us? Will you fight? Will you commit to this cause until we have won? This goes beyond the va//ine conversation. Do you want to be in charge of your own health? Or do you want the government to be in charge of it? Because your silence is consent. It’s time to wake up.
Here are some easily attainable ways to stay engaged in this fight:
Individually we each need to -
Register to Vote
Know who your representatives are.
Follow your reps on all social media platforms.
Subscribe to their emails and stay up to date on their upcoming events.
Follow their past, current, and proposed legislation
Know when their terms are up and who may be running against them.
Understand how a bill is written.
Understand how a bill becomes law.
Join your local Medical Freedom Groups, many can be found on FB or Instagram.
Join your local Party Groups.
Familiarize yourself with the organizations in the movement and what they are doing.
Stay in constant communication with those in your districts, plan to show up to the same events, host your own events, form your own groups, etc…
Notify your groups
Write down your ideas
Host a fundraiser for your incumbents opponent or potential opponent
Write out your own/ or your child’s injury story. Be brave enough to share it.
Write to the medical board, stay up to date on their upcoming meetings and attend them when you can or listen in on them when you can via teleconference.
Create a group or committee of parents at your school who do not support mandatory va//ines and/or support medical freedom.
Reach out to your school board
Host an event to brainstorm with others in your area.
Create a savings method to place money into monthly to help support our cause. Donate that money when you know when/where your money is most needed in this movement.
These are just a start. Depending on which really calls you, you’ll have a good start with any of these. What we need is more people activated to compel change in our communities.
What we need, is you.