Two dozen Republican governors sent a letter to President Joe Biden opposing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) proposed “Pandemic Agreement.”
The leaders argue the treaty would “drastically change the role of governors in response to their charge as the state health officials.”
They wrote that the “objective of these instruments is to empower the WHO, particularly its uncontrollable Director-General, with the authority to restrict the rights of U.S. citizens, including freedoms such as speech, privacy, travel, choice of medical care, and informed consent, thus violating our Constitution’s core principles.”
Under the proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) and the introduction of the “Pandemic Agreement,” the WHO’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, would “supposedly gain unilateral power to declare a ‘public health emergency of international concern’ (PHEIC) in member nations, extending beyond pandemics to include a range of perceived emergencies.”
These proposals would “erode sovereignty” by permitting the WHO to have the “authority to dictate responses to a declared PHEIC.”
The governors also warned that the WHO’s ideas would allow for a “global surveillance infrastructure.”
This surveillance infrastructure may facilitate the “proliferation of biological weapons,” the governors described.
“As governors, we affirm that public health policy is a matter reserved for the states, not the federal government, and certainly not international bodies like the WHO,” the governors concluded. “We are committed to resisting any attempts to transfer authority to the WHO over public policy affecting our citizens or any efforts by the WHO to assert such authority over them.”
States signing the letter include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Earlier this month, Republican senators sent a similar letter to Biden, urging him to oppose the WHO’s measures.
The unprecedented authority given to the who under the “Pandemic Agreement” is “unacceptable,” the senators wrote.
“The WHO’s failure during the COVID-19 pandemic was as total as it was predictable and did lasting harm to our country,” the letter continues. “The United States cannot afford to ignore this latest WHO inability to perform its most basic function and must insist on comprehensive WHO reforms before even considering amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) or any new pandemic related treaty that would increase WHO authority.”
