Sen. Cruz Introduces Bills to Prevent COVID-19 Discrimination in Healthcare
HOUSTON, TX – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) this week introduced the GIVE LIFE Act (Doss’s Bill) with Sen. Grassley (R-IA) and the Ending Discrimination in COVID-19 Treatments Act. Doss’s Bill is named after a teenage Texan who was denied a kidney transplant because he had not been vaccinated against COVID-19. Both of these bills would ensure that Americans are not discriminated against while trying to access critical, life-saving care.
The GIVE LIFE Act would prohibit denying an individual from donating or receiving an organ because of their COVID-19 vaccination status, and from the number of COVID-19 cases in a region being used as a factor in determining eligibility to donate or receive an organ transplant. The GIVE LIFE Act would also prevent Medicare and Medicaid providers from denying services to individuals based on their COVID-19 vaccination status.
The Ending Discrimination in COVID-19 Treatments Act would mandate the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require that providers receiving monoclonal antibodies do not engage in discriminatory practices such as considering someone’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, vaccination status, veteran status, political ideology, or speech when allocating the antibodies. There have been reports that states across the country are using race and ethnicity as a factor in determining whether someone is eligible to receive monoclonal antibodies which are critical, life-saving therapies that aide in the recovery from COVID-19.
Upon introducing these bills, Sen. Cruz said:
“No American should be denied a life-saving drug or organ because of their race, ethnicity, or COVID-19 vaccine status. That is wrong. Unfortunately, we’re seeing this kind of discrimination. My bills would prohibit the federal government from enabling this discrimination, so that every American has access to the care and treatment they need—regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination status or any other contrived criteria.”
Jon Schweppe, Director of Policy and Government Affairs at the American Principles Project said:
"COVID-19 has taken far too many American lives—we certainly shouldn't let it take America's soul. But a number of haughty elites have decided that they should be granted a license to discriminate against those who they view as lesser for not obeying the vaccine edicts of Anthony Fauci and Big Pharma. Everyone should get the vaccine, but if they don't want it, they shouldn't have to get it, and they certainly shouldn't face any sort of punitive treatment. The idea that medical professionals should be allowed to say who lives and who dies based on whether someone got the vaccine is not only un-American and discriminatory, but it would seem to violate the Hippocratic oath. We should be better than this. The GIVE LIFE Act would safeguard access to life-saving treatment for all Americans—it will save lives. American Principles Project is proud to endorse it."
Adam Brandon, President of FreedomWorks said:
“The decision to take the COVID-19 vaccine belongs solely with the individual. It is beyond reprehensible for any person to be denied medical care based on their COVID-19 vaccination status.
“Sen. Ted Cruz's GIVE LIFE Act will protect medical freedom while ensuring access to life-saving organ transplants. The COVID-19 regulatory madness must stop. We thank Senator Cruz for continuing to protect Americans’ medical freedom from the entrenched ‘public health’ establishment.”
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