October 28, 2021 |
In Cheyenne, state lawmakers grappled with the complex issues surrounding mandates for forced COVID-19 drug therapy inoculations that have proven risky for some and not all that effective for others. Moral objections have been raised because of the admitted presence of aborted fetal cell issues in the injections. Still others say they have medical reasons for refusing the shots.
On day two of the special session called to deal with the controversy, lawmakers moved past legislative process and into debating the heart of the issue — the consequences of refusing a mandated injection.
The state senate took up SF1003, which would prohibit discrimination based on COVID-19 vaccination status. The bill would apply to both employment opportunities and to health insurance policies that might price the unvaccinated out of the marketplace. One of the sponsors of the bill, Senator Cheri Steinmetz of Goshen County, said her constituents want to remain in control of their own health care choices. Steinmetz admitted, though, that the language in the bill struggles to thread the needle between the rights of individuals and private businesses.
Pictured above: Screenshot of livestream from the House Chamber during day two of the special session. Courtesy Wyoming State Legislature. Click here to watch replays and streams of the session.
The imperfections in the bill provided a meaty bone for opponents to pick at during the debate. Democrat Mike Gireau of Teton County characterized the freedom of individual choice elements of the legislation as anti-business. Gireau said it makes businesses choose between breaking a federal law or a state law.
Senator Beau Biteman pushed back, saying that allowing businesses to discriminate against employers and customers would create a two-tiered society. Biteman argued that Jim Crow-like discrimination against the unvaxed would turn back the clock to an uglier time in history, and create second-class citizens in Wyoming.
Biteman asked what happened to the “my body, my choice” chant from Democrats in the Senate.
Senator Larry Hicks agreed the bill wasn’t perfect. Hicks noted that that extending the special session allows ample time is available for lawmakers to fine-tune the legislation and get it right. He urged them to do so.
SF1003, “COVID-19 Discriminatory Practices Prohibition” as it is titled, lived to see a second reading. The Committee of the Whole passed it on a voice vote. It cleared the appropriations committee with a unanimous “do pass” vote.
Ten bills in all were assigned to committee after the vote to adjourn failed in both chambers Tuesday. The first assigned bill to be tossed was 1013, submitted by the House and Senate Minority Leaders, both of Albany County. The bill, sponsored by Representative Cathy Connolly and Senator Chris Rothfuss, would have stripped unemployment benefits from workers who quit their job rather than submit to the forced inoculation. It failed in the House Labor Committee on a vote of 4 aye, 4 no and one abstained vote. Day three of the session began this morning.
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