This morning I had the honor to stand with fellow Minnesota families and stand for health choice and health freedom at the Freedom Rally.

I was so moved to see so many parents and their kids from all ethnic, racial, religious and political backgrounds.

More than 1,300 of us attended, despite the subzero temps and the day after yet another February blizzard (we’ve had a record-shattering 3+ feet of snow just this month!) to show up for parental rights, human rights and the freedom of choice when it comes to any medical decision.

We heard that some people drove 6 hours to attend today! And many on Facebook wrote they would’ve been there if the roads had been opened.

The rally opened with prayer and ended with a spontaneous and emotional crowd recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

But in between, there were so many meaningful moments that made this a historic event in Minnesota.

First of all, no one I talked to today said they were anti-vaccine.

In fact, most people I talked with volunteered the reason they came. They said things like,

“This is not about vaccines. This is about our rights!”

“This is about our freedoms. This is about our children’s future.”

Healthcare Providers for Health Freedom

Many parents of vaccine-injured children and healthcare providers were there to be a voice for the voiceless.

Dr. Brian Boyd, a chiropractor from Plymouth, asked the audience to raise their hand if they had a child or loved one injured from a vaccine.

A sea of hundreds of hands shot up in the silence.

We all felt the emotional impact.

Dr. Boyd then broke the silence and responded:

“These hands were not raised because they are against vaccines. The vaccine injury happened because vaccines were given. We are not anti-vaccine. We support every Minnesota family whether they choose to vaccinate or not. This is all about choice.“*

Sen. Scott Jensen, a physician, talked about the “falsity of herd immunity,” a “dirty little secret” about doctors, and prescribed us some homework to do on the NNT (Number Needed to Treat).

 

Several healthcare professionals showed up with signs to show their support for parents’ rights and medical choice, too.

MN State Senators and Representatives represent!

In addition to the doctors, several more lawmakers, including Sen. Jim Abeler, Sen. Bruce Anderson, Sen. Dan Hall, Sen. Mark Johnson, Sen. Andrew Matthews, Rep. Jeremy Munson and Rep. Eric Lucero, lined up on the stage to speak and show their support for us. Some were with their families, children and grandchildren.

Sen. Mark Johnson with his wife and their children. He shared with us a real reality that a Kindergarten teacher in his district told him.

The Timing Couldn’t Have Been Better

This Freedom Rally, organized by Health Choice Minnesota, Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota and supported by several other organizations including Physicians for Informed Consent, Sound Choice Pharmaceutical Institute, Informed Consent Action Network, Children’s Health Defense, Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators and more, was already planned before SF1520 was introduced by State Sen. Chris Eaton last Thursday (a proposal that threatens to remove all conscientious/religious exemption for immunizations—effectively stripping parents from the right to make medical decisions for their children in consultation with their doctor.)

Gotta love God’s timing.

(Side note: One of my friend’s and I happened to walk past Sen. Eaton’s office on our way to talk with her senator when Eaton’s legislative assistant threatened to call security on a few moms and kids who showed up at her office to talk with her about her proposal.)

Seriously.

Hmm.

Anyways, back to the divine timing.

Within 24–48 hours of SF1520 becoming public, so many more people (including myself) found out about this open house/rally than probably ever would’ve had this proposed legislation not been introduced.

And that’s why I know there’s “nothing to fear but fear itself.”

We’ll keep showing up for choice.

For freedom.

For informed consent.

For parental rights.

For children.

For the vaccine injured.

For each other.

Local media misrepresented the mission

I remember one of the assignments my college journalism professor gave was to ask students to attend a public event and then see how the news actually covered it. Because that’s when you see the discrepancies and notice the biases and which facts are left in and which are left out, or what language is used to position it differently from what it actually was.

It felt a little like that today.

When you’ve attended an event in person, and then see the news coverage afterwards, it feels a little like when you read a beloved book, but the film adaptation only covers one chapter—and not even the best parts!

Yeah, I know some of you feel me on this.

So that’s why WCCO’s 35-second clip didn’t really do today’s Freedom Rally justice.  (And granted, to give her the benefit of the doubt, Esme Murphy was at the Capitol for another story today, so that’s probably why they showed up at the tail end.)

But even news social media downplayed the numbers, saying only hundreds from “the anti-vaccine movement” showed up and misrepresented it as an anti-vaccine rally.

But we know what really happened.

Because there was one clear theme shared by Health Choice Minnesota’s Alicia Leiviska’s speech, and a phrase repeated on t-shirts and signs today:

Coercion is not consent. 

Nothing more needs to be said tonight.

*More on my FB Live and HolisticGPS Facebook page. 

All photos and videos are mine, unless otherwise credited.