The strong vote leaves no room for doubt that Washington conservatives believe that state law, policy and mandates must respect the rights of free people to consent to any medical procedures

Ken Vance, editor
ClarkCountyToday.com

A Resolution on Informed Consent in public policy passed with overwhelming support from the State Committee of the Washington State Republican Party (WAGOP) at its recent quarterly meeting.

The strong vote leaves no room for doubt that common-sense conservatives from all corners of Washington believe that state law, policy and mandates must respect the rights of free people to consent to any medical procedures or similar actions recommended by government agencies.

The research and process to create the resolution was started by Clark County Republican Party Precinct Committee Officer Bob Runnells, who worked with others from around the state. 

“I was offended at the way our governor over reached during the pandemic and kept us in the state of emergency much longer than necessary,’’ Runnells said. “i saw other states passing some laws but resolutions were about the only thing available to us to limit government powers.’’

Runnells said the original draft of the resolution came from a national group working with a legal firm.

“Their draft was pretty rough, but the idea was there to draw a line somewhere,’’ Runnells said. “ 

Runnells said he rewrote about 50 percent of the resolution and then presented it to the 18th Legislative District, where it was revised and passed. Then it was on to the 17th Legislative District and then the 3rd Congressional District.

“We were building a grassroots effort around the state and it was gathering momentum here in Southwest Washington,’’ Runnells said.

Now that it has passed the WAGOP, Runnells said it is his hope that state Republican lawmakers can reinforce any health-related bills they would file, or amend existing bills.

“The WAGOP supports Informed Consent as both a principle and a specific element of public policy,” said Chairman Jim Walsh in a statement provided by the WAGOP.

“The state government needs to tread very carefully when pushing agendas related to public health or mandating what Washingtonians must do about their personal health. During the COVID outbreaks, the state government in Olympia overreached significantly. Good people in this state lost their jobs, lost their businesses, had their health damaged and their families divided because our state government failed to center its actions around the informed consent of every person.

“The Washington state constitution, in Article 1, Section 11, enumerates ‘absolute freedom of conscience’ as a right of every person in this state. Informed consent is a practical application—maybe the most important practical application—of that foundational value. We must do better to ensure informed consent is respected in the laws and policies of our state.

“As the government’s response to COVID slips into history, it may be tempting to forget the attacks on informed consent that headline-grabbing politicians like Jay Inslee made. But we will remember. And we will work diligently to prevent such attacks from ever happening again.”

The complete text of the WAGOP Resolution on Informed Consent appears below.

RESOLUTION PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO INDIVIDUAL INFORMED CONSENT

WHEREAS the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the natural “right of the people to be secure in their persons,”

WHEREAS the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments protect the fundamental right to bodily integrity, and

WHEREAS Article 1 Section 7 of the Constitution of Washington State states that “No person shall be disturbed in his private affairs,” and

WHEREAS the Nuremburg Code was adopted by all signatory countries, stating “The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential,” and which defined the conditions required to obtain informed consent, and

WHEREAS a person is only secure and undisturbed in their private affairs if allowed to voluntarily consent or refuse a medical intervention, product, or procedure, while in the absence of coercion, for themselves and those legally under their care, and

WHEREAS a mandate of a medical intervention, product, or procedure is coercion, and violates informed consent, and

WHEREAS the tenets of informed consent were not codified to be discarded in times of emergency, whether declared or perceived, but were in fact developed from grave lessons learned during such times, and were intended to protect people during such times, and

WHEREAS the four principles of medical ethics, being 1) respect for bodily autonomy, 2) beneficence, 3) nonmaleficence (do no harm), and 4) justice, and the tenets of informed consent are imperative in the practice of medicine and health care, and

WHEREAS during the prolonged state of emergency for COVID-19, government officials and agencies enacted mandates that violated informed consent, the right to earn a living (through firings), the right to privacy (tracking and tracing), and medical ethics, while also inciting private enterprises to adopt the same mandates, and

THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Washington State Republican Party (WSRP) finds that any emergency order, proclamation, directive, executive order, ordinance, policy, or law that mandates medical interventions, products, or procedures, or tracking and tracing of individuals is coercive, violates informed consent, is unconstitutional, and will be challenged, and

THEREFORE, be it further resolved that the WSRP is opposed to the emergency powers of any unelected official, as described in WAC 246-100-040, that allow for involuntary isolation and quarantine of individuals through law enforcement action, and

THEREFORE, be it finally resolved that the WSRP will encourage all candidates to strengthen informed consent and work to prevent and remove mandates for medical interventions, products, and procedures.