Credit photos: Adelia Kirchner / The Tennessee Conservative & TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
A resolution to amend Article I of the Tennessee Constitution and give Tennesseans the right to forgo medical treatment passed in the House Health Subcommittee by a 5-3 vote on Wednesday.
House Joint Resolution 28 (HJR0028), sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood-District 61), states that a person “must not be compelled to undergo a medical treatment, even in the case of a declared state of emergency.”
“This proposed constitutional amendment presents a single question,” Rep. Bulso told subcommittee members. “Should the people of Tennessee have the right to decide whether their government can require them to undergo a medical treatment?”
“We’ve got already, in our state constitution, Article 1, Section 8, what’s called a law of the land clause which is our version of a due process clause,” said Rep. Bulso. “Thomas Jefferson when speaking about our constitution back in 1796, said that the Tennessee Constitution was the least imperfect of the state constitutions, and he said that in part because in the federal Constitution the Bill of Rights comes at the end.”
The Tennessee Constitution actually starts off with a declaration of rights, listing out 33 rights that all Tennesseans have.
“We have a recent history in our country of the federal government attempting to impose mandates on the population,” said Rep. Bulso. “Many of you will recall the Biden vaccine mandates, that among other things, required employers off more than 100 employees to require that their employees be vaccinated or be tested for Covid over some period of time.”
Over a century ago, dealing with the issue of small pox, the state of Massachusetts passed a law that gave local boards of health the authority to require all citizens be vaccinated or revaccinated.
In 1904, the city of Cambridge actually passed a law that required all citizens to be vaccinated or revaccinated. On citizen refused to comply and took the case up to the U.S. Supreme Court which actually concluded that the law was not in conflict with the U.S. Constitution Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905).
The Supreme Court at the time concluded that the safety, welfare, and wellbeing of the many is more important than that of the few.
This case was cited by Rep. Bulso as one reason why we need this protection in Tennessee.
“I hate that we have now politicized living and dying and good health,” said Rep. Bo Mitchell. “Your rights, as the old saying goes, goes to the tip of your nose. Well, when you’re spreading a disease beyond the tip of your nose, that’s harming others around you and it could be life threatening, and Jacobson like you said is still good law today 120 years later…How do you justify that one person’s actions could have such negative actions, even death, among the fellow citizens?”
“There are citizens of our state that may feel exactly the way you do. That this is something that a government should be able to do,” Rep. Bulso responded. “But there are other citizens who think the exact opposite. That one’s personal autonomy is sacrosanct.”
The bill sponsor explained that he brought this resolution because it gives Tennesseans the ability to choose for themselves whether or not they want this right to be enshrined in their Constitution.
“So this gets into our Constitution, you’re saying that a prisoner with an extremely infectious and airborne disease can refuse treatment because he or she refuses treatment?” Rep. Sam McKenzie (D-Knoxville-District 15) asked.
“No, I am not saying that,” responded Rep. Bulso. “Obviously, every right that we have is subject to due process of law and in the case of a prisoner, where you’ve actually been convicted of a crime and put in prison, you lose certain of your civil rights. Not just your right to vote, but obviously your freedom as well as other rights.”
Rep. McKenzie then brought up the situation of a potential outbreak of an infectious communicable disease in a college dorm.
“We can’t do anything unless we sue everyone in that dorm, go through due process to allow them, the Department of Health or public health, to come in and get this situation under control?” asked Rep. McKenzie.
“No, I am not saying that,” said Rep. Bulso. “Under your hypothetical, you’re dealing with a school that is run by the state government. Obviously, the state can decide whether there are certain requirements that students must meet in order to be enrolled.”
Rep. Ryan Williams (R- Cookeville-District 42) then asked if this constitutional amendment would allow students to still participate in a particular sport if they have a moral objection to a vaccine and the NCAA says that students have to take that vaccine in order to participate in that sport.
“Would this Constitution preserve someone’s individual rights in spite of the NCAA or would they have to quit being a student athlete?” he asked.
Rep. Bulso answered that “unfortunately no” this would not impact private entities like the NCAA.
“Is part of the intent of your constitutional amendment to relieve the pressure of conformity as it relates to certain treatments or care that are acceptable to others, so that someone could make their own informed consent decision?” asked Rep. Williams.
“Absolutely,” said Rep. Bulso.
“I’m gonna support your bill,” said Rep. Williams. “I think it’s a good first step. I do think it is timely. Particularly what we’ve seen and heard and done to our population…based upon the repercussions that we now know that we didn’t know then.”
Republican Representatives Ron Gant, Tim Hicks, Timothy Hill, Brock Martin, and Ryan Williams all voted in favor of HJR0028.
Democrat Representatives Sam McKenzie and Bo Mitchell, as well as Republican Representative Tom Leatherwood voted against it.
Republican Representative Bryan Terry marked himself as “present and not voting.”
During this subcommittee meeting, Rep. Bryan Terry (R-Murfreesboro-District 48), expressed that he was on-board philosophically but had concerns about how this constitutional amendment would reconcile with current K-12 public school requirements.
“This bill would not undo that at all,” Rep. Bulso assured him, “it would simply give the government the inability to force any citizen, or through the parents a minor, from undergoing any particular vaccination or medical treatment.”
Rep. Tom Leatherwood (R- Arlington-District 99) stated that he thinks they would be better off filling current gaps legislatively and having things go into effect much sooner, instead of waiting for this constitutional amendment to go into effect years down the road.
Rep. Bulso’s response was that gaps in current law regarding medical freedom could still be filled in the meantime, but this would provide an additional protection for Tennesseans by officially preserving a right to medical freedom in the state Constitution.
Constitutional amendments must pass through two consecutive General Assemblies, first by a majority vote and then by a 2/3 majority vote. The amendment would then be placed on the ballot during the next gubernatorial election.
If HJR0028 is successful in the legislature, Tennessee voters would see the amendment on their ballots in 2030.
HJR0028 has been scheduled to be heard in the full House Health Committee on March 18th with a positive recommendation.
Contact information for the House Health Committee provided below:
Rep.bryan.terry@capitol.tn.gov, rep.tom.leatherwood@capitol.tn.gov, rep.shaundelle.brooks@capitol.tn.gov, rep.kip.capley@capitol.tn.gov, rep.michele.carringer@capitol.tn.gov, rep.john.ray.clemmons@capitol.tn.gov, rep.andrew.farmer@capitol.tn.gov, rep.ron.gant@capitol.tn.gov, rep.john.gillespie@capitol.tn.gov, rep.esther.helton@capitol.tn.gov, rep.caleb.hemmer@capitol.tn.gov, rep.gary.hicks@capitol.tn.gov, rep.tim.hicks@capitol.tn.gov, rep.timothy.hill@capitol.tn.gov, rep.sabi.kumar@capitol.tn.gov, rep.susan.lynn@capitol.tn.gov, rep.brock.martin@capitol.tn.gov, rep.sam.mckenzie@capitol.tn.gov, rep.bo.mitchell@capitol.tn.gov, rep.iris.rudder@capitol.tn.gov, rep.paul.sherrell@capitol.tn.gov, rep.ron.travis@capitol.tn.gov, rep.mark.white@capitol.tn.gov, rep.ryan.williams@capitol.tn.gov
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. Adelia is The Tennessee Conservative’s on-site reporter for the Tennessee General Assembly. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
