‘Vaccine lettuce’ bill, aiming to classify food containing a vaccine as a drug, passes in Tennessee
“I’ve been reading about it talking about putting it in and lettuce and mass medicate everybody, like they do with fluoride in the water.”
By Caleb Wethington Published: Mar. 29, 2024
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A bill aiming to classify food containing a vaccine or vaccine material as a drug has passed and is moving to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk.
The bill, HB1894, was discussed in the Tennessee Senate on Thursday before a vote to send it to Lee’s desk.
“As introduced, defines food that contains a vaccine or vaccine material as a drug for purposes of the Tennessee Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act,” the bill reads.
Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, spoke during the session about the bill, which he’s sponsoring
“House Bill 1894 merely would require any food that contains a vaccine or vaccine material would have to be classified as a drug and labeled as such,” he said.
Questioning the bill, Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, asked if Hensley knew of any instances where food containing vaccines was offered in Tennessee.
“So does the sponsor know of any instances of there being food offered in the state of Tennessee that contains vaccines and some kind of a retail or public forum?” Campbell asked.
“No, I do not know any specific examples. But certainly they are developing this process. And actually, Congress has actually dealt with this as well and passed an amendment that said no fund could be used for transgenic edible vaccines. This is a process that is being developed. But this bill merely would say that if that happens in the future, that food would have to be classified as a drug if it had a vaccine in it,” Hensley replied.
STOPPING MASS MEDICATION
SB 1903 by *Hensley , Bowling, Crowe, Jackson, Pody - HB 1894 by *Cepicky, RICHEY, GRILLS, HULSEY, HILL, DAVIS, MARTIN G, RUDD, MOODY, LYNN
Food and Food Products - As introduced, defines food that contains a vaccine or vaccine material as a drug for purposes of the Tennessee Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
March 4: Passed H., Ayes 73, Nays 22, PNV 1
March 28: Passed Senate, Ayes 23, Nays 6
THIS IS WHAT 'THEY' ARE SAYING:
TN House leadership says Senate Republicans refuse to negotiate on school voucher bill
by: Chris O'Brien Posted: Mar 29, 2024 / 07:41 PM EDT Updated: Mar 29, 2024 / 07:41 PM EDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee lawmakers are expecting the legislative session to wrap up by the end of April at the very latest.
But there’s a large elephant in the room, as the House and the Senate remain miles apart on their proposed education freedom voucher legislation to send public tax dollars to private schools. And both sides are staunch that their version is the better version.
“We’re willing to sit down and have those conversations with them and try to work it out,” Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said. “It’s really up to them on if they’re willing to have any conversations about our version or not, and then we’ll see what happens.”
News Channel 11’s Nashville sister station has heard, ‘We’re willing to sit down’ the last three or four weeks from members of leadership. But when is that actually going to happen?
“Well, we’ve sat down,” Sexton said. “What we get back is they don’t like the House version.”
The outlook was a little rosier in the Senate.
“We’ll have discussions with the House, whether it be in the Conference Committee or leadership talking to the House leadership,” Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) said. “We’ll, eventually I think, find a path forward.”
Gov. Bill Lee (R-Tennessee) has largely remained out of the public eye while the two sides duke it out. But lawmakers say there’s more behind closed doors.
Tennessee Sen. Lundberg says school vouchers boil down to choice
by: Madi Codispoti Posted: Mar 29, 2024 / 09:31 PM EDT Updated: Mar 29, 2024 / 11:08 PM EDT
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Over the last few months, one topic that has continued to circulate in both the Tennessee House and Senate are school vouchers.
The vouchers are part of a proposal from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and other lawmakers to award vouchers to families to use for tuition at a school of the parents’ choosing. The proposal has been met with opposition from public schools and has lawmakers split on opinions in Nashville.
State Senator Jon Lundberg, who represents Bristol and also chairs the Senate Education Committee, said the idea behind vouchers boils down to one thing.
“That’s the bottom line of what it’s for, choice,” said Lundberg.
Both the Senate and the House have discussed school vouchers, and both groups have different ideas about the use of vouchers.
“The House version said basically ‘you can take that and go to a private school or a charter school,'” Lundberg said. “The Senate took a different approach, which is candidly, ‘we have some great public schools in Tennessee. So if you want to take a voucher and go to another public school, go to another public school.'”
According to Lundberg, an estimated 70% of vouchers would be used to go from one public school to another. Lundberg said the addition of public schools to the vouchers would help to improve schools.
“One of the things I say is, without a little bit of competition, you can’t be a champion,” said Lundberg. “We need champions in education. So if you’re a public school, whether you’re in Johnson City and you want to go from Washington or Sullivan, ‘I want to go to this school.’ Go to that school, make it better, make it so that it attracts others.”
When it comes to the costs, Lundberg said there are three options.
“The governor proposed $142 million,” said Lundberg. “The House version, as of Thursday, was $444 million. The Senate version is $74.8 million.”
WHAT ARE 'YOU' SAYING? NOW IS THE TIME!
STATUS: On Tuesday SB503, as AMENDED, will be heard in Senate Finance Ways and Means.
To say that there are still MANY questions and CONCERNS about this legislation is a real understatement. Review the amendment above and MAKE YOUR CONTACTS TODAY:
Sponsor: Sen. Jack Johnson – (615) 741-2495 sen.jack.johnson@capitol.tn.gov
Sen. Bo Watson - (615) 741-3227- sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov
Sen. John Stevens - (615) 741-4576 - sen.john.stevens@capitol.tn.gov
Sen. Joey Hensley – (615) 741-3100 - sen.joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov
Sen. Ferrell Haile - (615) 741-1999 - sen.ferrell.haile@capitol.tn.gov
Sen. Bill Powers - (615) 741-2374 - sen.bill.powers@capitol.tn.gov
Sen. Page Walley - (615) 741-2368 - sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov
Sen. Dawn White (615) 741-6853 sen.dawn.white@capitol.tn.gov
Sen. Ken Yager - (615) 741-1449 - sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov
Self-managed abortions increased by about 26,000 after Dobbs decision, study shows
BY: ELISHA BROWN - APRIL 1, 2024
Self-managed abortions rose by more than 26,000 in the six months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago, according to a peer-reviewed study published in JAMA, the American Medical Association’s journal.
Researchers determined that an increase of approximately 27,838 online orders of abortion pills between July and December 2022 corresponded to the findings of an additional 26,055 medication abortions reported outside the formal health care system, the study found.
The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in June 2022 overturned the federal right to abortion, returning the decision to the states and leading to 14 with near-total abortion bans.
The study was published a day before the nation’s highest court is set to hear arguments in a case over the federal approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortions. A decision in favor of an anti-abortion group could limit access to mifepristone, even in states with protective abortion laws.
Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, an anti-abortion group of physicians, is asking the court to rule that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should revert to pre-2016 mifepristone regulations. The change would reduce mifepristone’s use from 10 weeks gestation to seven, alter the dosage, require three in-person visits, and only allow doctors to provide medication abortions, among other restrictions.
Lawyers for the Biden administration are urging the court to keep the current regulations on the drug. Hundreds of studies point to the pill’s safety. Since the FDA approved mifepristone in 2000, 32 deaths have been associated with the drug’s use as of December 2022.
Regardless of the outcome, the JAMA research suggests that some people in states with strict abortion bans have found ways to terminate their pregnancies outside of a clinician setting.
“Given the increases we’ve seen and reductions in access, we could make a good guess that a lot of these pills are going to states with those bans,” said Abigail Aiken, a University of Texas at Austin public affairs professor and the study’s lead author.
Researchers analyzed data provided by telemedicine organizations — such as Aid Access, an international abortion pill provider, community networks and online vendors. Community networks — organizations run by volunteers that sometimes work offline or through hotlines and provide pills at no-cost to recipients — accounted for more than half of all abortion pill orders. Online vendors are websites that give various price options for buying abortion medications.
Post-Dobbs, there was an estimated monthly average of 5,931 provisions — orders — of abortion pills from those main sources. That’s a 322% increase from a pre-Dobbs average of 1,407 provisions per month, according to the study.
