House Republicans are calling for President Donald Trump to block hospitals from denying organ transplants for people unvaccinated against COVID-19.
“Over the past week, it has come to light that multiple desperate Americans have been denied life-saving organ transplants due to their COVID-19 vaccination status,” the letter, led by Repl Michael Rulli (R-OH) and obtained by Fox News, says. “This outrageous denial of care has affected some of our most vulnerable citizens – including a child from Indiana and a veteran from Ohio.”
“Mr. President, this letter urges you to issue an Executive Order directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review all grants made under 42 U.S.C. § 273 and 42 U.S.C. § 274 and conduct steps necessary to ensure recipients are not discriminating on the basis of COVID-19 vaccination,” the letter adds.
Discussing the need for upholding constitutional rights, the lawmakers wrote that COVID-19 vaccine mandates for transplants are “out of step with parental rights, medical freedom, and the religious beliefs of millions of Americans.”
“With your leadership, our nation could return to a time when our brave and talented medical professionals can save lives freely, unburdened by bureaucratic barriers that endanger our most vulnerable citizens,” the letter concludes.
Reps. Erin Houchin (R-IN), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Mike Collins (R-GA), Troy Nehls (R-TX), and Nicholas Begich (R-AK) joined Rulli in the letter.
The letter follows Rulli and Houchin introducing a bill to ensure “no American is refused a transplant over their personal or religious medical decisions.”
The child denied the organ transplant, 12-year-old Adaline, was born with two heart conditions and had been receiving treatment at the hospitals for nearly a decade.
