Stop the Mandates

Update 11/19/21:

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin clarified his statement regarding mandates:

"Let me just be clear: I'm going to use every authority that I have as governor in order to combat what I believe are incorrect mandates, and therefore I'm going to rescind them. And let's just be clear, I have three big principles: one, there should be no state government mandates; two, in fact people should not get fired from their job for not getting the vaccine; and finally, when it comes to children, parents know best what's for their kids when it comes to their education and their health. And, therefore, I will rescind Executive Order 18 for state employees. They will not be mandated to wear masks or get vaccines. And I will appoint a new Health Commissioner and we will rescind the public health order that requires kids in K-12 education to wear a mask in order to attend both public and private schools. And then, finally, I will work with our Attorney General Jason Miyares, and we are going to push back in what I believe is an unconstitutional position from Joe Biden, that employers with more than 100 employees mandate their employees get a vaccine otherwise they have to fire them. We are just not going to stand by and let this happen. And so, I just want to be really, really clear, this has been my position, this continues to be my position, that we, in fact, are going to respect the individual ability to make these decisions with regards to the vaccine, and particularly with parents' ability to make decisions with regards to their children."

On September 1, 2021, a Virginia resident petitioned the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to require all school employees and students to be vaccinated and for the religious exemption option to be removed. There was a 21-day public comment period that ended on October 17, 2021. During that period, 15,200 individuals commented. With the exception of a handful of comments supporting the petition, Virginians made overwhelmingly clear to the VDH that a vaccine mandate is unacceptable and that religious freedom is not an option but a fundamental right.

After stating he would not support mandates while running for office, governor-elect Glenn Youngkin revealed in early November he will not attempt to block localities from implementing mask or vaccination requirements, breaking from other conservative leaders across the country. Those who voted for Youngkin because of his clear opposition to the mandates are left baffled.

Many parents voted for Glenn Youngkin assuming that if he won, their children would not face vaccine mandates and would no longer be forced to wear masks that studies have shown to be useless time and time again. Now, it seems this might not be the case.

Virginia Freedom Keepers believe in bodily sovereignty; we urge any individual who wants to wear a mask to do so and any individual who wants to receive a first, second, third, and however many more vaccine doses are offered to do so. The mandates are what we vehemently oppose. We must be free to make medical decisions as autonomous individuals. Mandates, whether for masking or for vaccination, are fundamentally wrong.

We would like to remind our governor-elect, Mr. Youngkin of the famous words of Virginia’s first governor, Patrick Henry: “give me liberty, or give me death!” For many Virginians today, liberty is still worth fighting for and worth dying for. We deserve freedom; we demand freedom. Stop the mandates.