All Republican governors, including Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, joined together to state that they will not comply with the World Health Organization’s attempt at one global control over health policy.
The Biden-Harris Administration has been participating in negotiations with the World Health Assembly as part of the intergovernmental negotiating body, and the WHO released a second draft of the WHO Pandemic Treaty in October of 2023.
Twenty-six Republican governors signed a letter this week stating, “if adopted, these agreements would seek to elevate the WHO from an advisory body to a global authority in public health. Under the proposed amendments and treaty, the WHO’s Director- General 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.”
The governors said the WHO could “erode state sovereignty by granting the WHO’s Director- General the authority to dictate responses to a declared PHEIC, stripping elected representatives of their role in setting public health policies and compelling citizens to comply with WHO directives, potentially including mandates regarding medical treatments.”
“Additional concerns arise regarding the establishment of a global surveillance infrastructure and requirements for member states to censor speech related to public health, potentially facilitating the proliferation of biological weapons,” the governors wrote.
“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. 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,” the letter reads.
Read the full letter here.
