Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a permanent ban on COVID-19 mandates in the state Tuesday.
The legislative proposal, called “Prescribe Freedom,” was announced at a press conference in Panama City Beach.
“When the world lost its mind, Florida was a refuge of sanity, serving strongly as freedom’s linchpin,” DeSantis said in a press release. “These measures will ensure Florida remains this way and will provide landmark protections for free speech for medical practitioners.”
What is in DeSantis’ proposal?
DeSantis’s proposal includes four “permanent protections against the biomedical security state,” which would ban various mandates across the state:
- “Permanently prohibits mask COVID-19 requirements throughout the state.”
- “Permanently prohibits COVID-19 vaccine and mask requirements in all schools.”
- “Permanently prohibits COVID-19 vaccine passports in Florida.”
- “Permanently prohibits employers from hiring or firing based on mRNA jabs.”
The proposal also asks the state legislature for protections of “medical freedom of speech”:
- “Protects medical professionals’ freedom of speech.”
- “Protects the right to disagree with the preferred narrative of the medical community.”
- “Protects the religious views of medical professionals.”
The proposal would make permanent some of the bans DeSantis signed in 2021 that are set to expire in June, such as prohibiting mask requirements in schools and prohibiting vaccine requirements for traveling, CNN reported.
Fentrice Driskell’s reactions to DeSantis’ proposal
Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell called a press conference in response to DeSantis’ press conference.
“The governor made the point that Florida is the only state in the nation giving this type of vaccine guidance,” she said, per Politico. “There is a reason for that. It is backwards thinking.”