Free Republic

Four Democrat-run states have issued their own vaccine guidelines after Florida banned all mandates. The governors of California, Oregon and Washington state announced this week they have formed the West Coast Health Alliance in an effort to 'ensure residents remain protected by science, not politics.' The alliance plans to review scientific data and make vaccine recommendations for residents in these states that are independent from federal guidelines. These guidelines will sidestep those enacted by the Trump administration and vaccine skeptic Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, including recent restrictions on the Covid shot. It's the first blue-state...

“If they are interacting with a customer and the customer says, this is my preferred name and these are my preferred pronouns, this is the way I want to be addressed, there is a legal obligation to do that. They're compelled to use those pronouns and those surnames under Colorado's law. That's compelled speech, and the real kicker is there criminal penalties for it. You can have prison time, jail time for up to 4 months if you don't abide that.” - Kristen Waggoner, President, CEO & General Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom

California Republicans are up in arms over a bill that would severely limit a person’s right to defend their home.A new bill would significantly restrict self-defense rights in California, including the rights of people protecting their homes. The bill’s sponsor, Asm. Rick Chavez Zbur (D–Los Angeles), promised to amend the proposal to not take away self-defense rights after Republicans came out against it in force. The big picture: Assembly Bill 1333 would eliminate certain circumstances under which homicide is justifiable, including in defense of a home or property. Current state law says homicide is justifiable “when committed in defense of...

A hospital system in Illinois this week issued a mandate that everyone entering its facilities must wear a mask due to “widespread respiratory illnesses” in the area.“Starting Tuesday, December 31, all employees, patients and visitors at our hospitals are required to wear masks due to the widespread respiratory illnesses in our communities, including COVID-19, influenza and RSV,” said OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, based in Peoria, Illinois, in a statement posted on Facebook.“Additionally, we are implementing a temporary visitor restriction: only two visitors (age 18+) per patient at a time. Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our community safe.”It...

Masks are coming back to the Bay Area — for a limited time.... The orders are aimed at reducing the spread of flu, COVID and other respiratory viruses in medical settings during the winter virus season that typically spans late fall to early spring. For the most part, the orders apply to health care workers only and echo similar local health orders announced last year for the 2023-24 winter virus season. But two local jurisdictions, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, are also extending the requirement to visitors — and Santa Clara County is also asking patients to mask up....