If supranational organizations decide they want to impose their will upon the United States, they're going to run into a brick wall in the state of Louisiana, at least if state legislators have anything to do with it.
As reported by Blaze Media last week, lawmakers in the Bayou State came one step closer to keeping the United Nations, World Health Organization and World Economic Forum out of Louisiana, unanimously passing a bill that declared those groups "have no jurisdiction or power within the state of Louisiana."
While the bill was authored by three Republicans -- state Sens. Valarie Hodges and Thomas A. Pressley and state Rep. Kathy Edmonston -- it passed the upper chamber of the state Legislature unanimously on March 26 by a 37-0 vote.
Hodges said the legislation "comes after years of attempts to secure our state sovereignty from the overreaching hands of the WHO, U.N., and WEF."
"We have watched a horror story unfold in front of us as time has shown that the 'recommendations' and coercive regulations from outside organizations such as the WHO have harmed hundreds of thousands of Americans who took a vaccine that they were told was safe and effective," the senator said, referring to the COVID inoculation.
"Now, we are witnessing severe, long-term side effects and countless deaths because the 'experts' were wrong," she said.
"These organizations coerced and strong-armed Americans into medical decisions without clinical trials or long-term studies," Hodges said.
I co-authored SB133, with Senator Pressly and Representative Edmonston, which would specifically ensure that the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the World Economic Forum "have no jurisdiction or power within the state of Louisiana." https://t.co/6uSEhLnVFI
— Valarie Hodges (@ValarieHHodges) April 1, 2024
Whether or not those comments were accurate, the text of the bill would make it difficult for any of the supranational organizations to exert pressure upon the state, were it signed into law by GOP Gov. Jeff Landry after passing the lower chamber as well.
"No rule, regulation, fee, tax, policy, or mandate of any kind of the World Health Organization, United Nations, and the World Economic Forum shall be enforced or implemented by the state of Louisiana or any agency, department, board, commission, political subdivision, governmental entity of the state, parish, municipality, or any other political entity," SB 133 reads.
The Tenth Amendment Center, which advocates for states' rights, said the legislation not only was constitutional but also would be effective.
"Based on James Madison’s advice for states and individuals in Federalist #46, a 'refusal to cooperate with officers of the Union' provides an extremely effective method to render federal laws, effectively unenforceable because most enforcement actions rely on help, support, and leadership from the states," the group said in a March 29 news release.
"This is just as true when it comes to international bodies -- probably more. These institutions have no enforcement mechanism of their own. All of their power is based on voluntary compliance and enforcement by local jurisdictions," it continued.
"The federal government relies heavily on state cooperation to implement and enforce almost all of its laws, regulations, and acts. By simply withdrawing this necessary cooperation, states can nullify in effect many federal actions. As noted by the National Governor’s Association during the partial government shutdown of 2013, 'States are partners with the federal government on most federal programs.'"
The group also argued that Louisiana -- or any other state, for that matter -- is not obligated to enforce mandates from the WHO or United Nations because of treaties, noting that the Supreme Court has found that "[u]nder the anti-commandeering doctrine, states are sovereign entities and can direct their resources as they see fit."
"It logically follows that international organizations can’t commander state and local resources either," the Tenth Amendment Center said. "Even if the U.S. government is obligated to enforce some U.N. mandate based on a treaty, it doesn’t follow that state and local governments must also enforce the same."
The move was hailed by bodily autonomy groups such as Health Freedom Louisiana, which noted the next stop was a state House committee.
According to the LegiScan tracking page on the legislation, the bill was referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs on March 27, the day after its passage in the Senate.
If all goes as planned, SB 133 will become law on Aug. 1.
Hodges noted there might be pushback from the federal government and a court battle, were the legislation to pass the House and be signed into law. She was undeterred, however.
"We, as legislators, should not base our efforts on what the courts may or may not do — we must focus on doing the right thing," she said.
Hopefully, legislators in other states focus on doing the right thing, as well. The stakes are simply too high to risk the alternative.
