Republican governors, attorneys general and lawmakers are working together to create maximum pressure to stop the World Health Organization from seizing new powers to impose decisions on the United States and other member countries during future public health crises.
The political leaders are warning that changes the WHO wants to make to its member agreements, which are generally supported by the Biden administration, would insert foreigners into the doctor-patient relationship here in America.
At least one Republican, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has gone to court to try to force the Biden administration to not accept the changes being considered by the WHO this week.
"We filed a lawsuit to try to stop it because the Biden administration cannot obligate us to follow health regulations and guidelines by international bodies," Paxton said on the Thursday edition of the Just the News, No Noise TV show.
The global health organization is attempting to prepare for future pandemics by creating a unified policy that would direct countries on how to respond to world-wide emergencies faster than it did for COVID-19.
"During more than two years of intensive negotiations, WHO’s Member States have shown unwavering commitment to forging a generational agreement to protect the world from a repeat of the horrors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press release. “I welcome the determination that all countries have shown to continue their work and fulfill the mission on which they embarked.”
One of the most controversial aspects of the agreement, which will not be a part of the draft agreement, is a "pathogen access and benefits system." The system would codify sharing material on new viruses or strains that could potentially lead to another pandemic. In sharing the material, the negotiators hope it would ensure that all countries benefit fairly from future vaccines, drugs and tests.
Paxton said that he believes decisions about health should be left up to individual states.
"We all believe that the authority to give that control to an international organization……certainly the states have never agreed to this," he said. "And certainly we don't believe the federal government has the power to impose that on us."
Earlier this month, all 49 Republican senators signed a letter and sent it to President Joe Biden, urging him to reject two international agreements that would increase the WHO's power.
"We strongly urge you not to join any pandemic related treaty, convention, or agreement being considered" at the 77th World Health Assembly, the letter asks.
Republican governors from two dozen states also sent a letter to Biden opposing these proposed changes, arguing they could "undermine national sovereignty."
Twenty-two GOP attorneys general also criticized the changes, stating that if they were to go through, "the WHO would transform from an advisory, charitable organization to the world’s governor of public health."
"The COVID-19 pandemic exposed fundamental flaws with the WHO and other public health institutions," the letter reads. "These entities breached public trust and are unquestionably in need of reform. The proposed measures, however, would only exacerbate the WHO’s underlying problems and enable more civil liberties violations during future 'emergencies.'"
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