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Rep. Mike Dobrinski
WATONGA – Oklahoma state Rep. Mike Dobrinski, whose district includes Watonga, was among 20 state lawmakers who signed a letter last week urging Gov. Kevin Stitt to ban health care companies from mandating the COVID-19 vaccine.
The letter was released just days after Mercy announced that all staff will be required to get vaccinated. Mercy operates hospitals and clinics in Oklahoma, including in Watonga. SSM Health and OU Health have also mandated that some or all staff members get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The letter to Stitt says such mandates amount to “medical tyranny.” “If we do not protect the individual’s right to choose what goes in their body,” it says, “we no longer live in a free society.”
Dobrinski, R-Okeene, later elaborated on Facebook, saying he supports the vaccine but also individuals’ right not to get it.
“I totally understand that everyone is not in agreement on this issue,” he wrote. “This virus is real—friends will die. The vaccine can help protect people but has NOT been in trial long enough for solid results on side effects and long term consequences. Although I encourage folks to get the vaccine I understand and respect everyone’s right to choose and for those I will fight for their right to abstain and refuse to take the vaccine. Personal liberty and responsibility—that’s what has built this country and continues to make it STRONG!”
The other state lawmakers who signed the letter were Rep. Sean Roberts, R-Hominy; Rep. Lonnie Sims, R-Jenks; Rep. Steve Bashore, R-Miami; Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader, R-Piedmont; Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane; Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland; Rep. Mark Vancuren, R-Owasso; Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore; Rep. Rick West, R-Heavener; Rep. David Smith, R-Arpelar; Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola; Rep. Wendi Stear-man, R-Collinsville; Rep. Chris Sneed, R-Fort Gibson; Rep. Randy Randleman, R-Eufaula; Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow; Rep. David Hardin, R-Stilwell; Rep. Sherri Conley, R-Newcastle; Rep. Marilyn Stark, R-Bethany; and Rep. Danny Williams, R-Seminole.
“This issue requires the immediate attention of our state government,” said Roberts, who wrote the letter. “These employees are the heroes that stood on the front line of the pandemic caring for those that had fallen ill to COVID-19. The quickest and most effective way to protect these workers is an executive order prohibiting these mandates."
In May, Stitt signed an order barring state agencies from requiring a mask or a coronavirus vaccination for people to enter state buildings.
The full text of the letter can be seen below:
July 15, 2021
Governor J. Kevin Stitt,
As I am sure you are aware there are many healthcare facilities across the state that have decided to mandate the COVID-19 vaccines to their thousands of employees. These employees are the heroes that stood on the front line of the pandemic caring for those that had fallen ill to COVID-19.
Many Oklahomans are about to have their paychecks used against them to make a medical decision that goes against their beliefs. Healthcare workers are left to choose between taking a vaccine authorized for emergency use or risk losing their job, this goes against “liberty and justice for all”. If we do not protect the individual’s right to choose what goes in their body, we no longer live in a free society.
The Oklahoma legislature had bills introduced last session that were related to these type of vaccine mandates, but none of these bills came to be law. Some other states in the country have taken action on these issues while others already had laws on the book to protect their healthcare workers. For example in Oregon, employees such as health care providers, health care facility employees, clinical lab employees, law enforcement, and firefighters are protected by a 1989 state law that says “A worker shall not be required as a condition of work to be immunized” unless otherwise required by federal or state law.
After talking with healthcare workers and citizens across the state many of my colleagues and I have come to the conclusion this is an issue that requires the immediate attention of our State Government. The quickest and most effective way to protect these workers is an executive order prohibiting these mandates.
Those signed onto this letter and I respectfully request you draft an executive order to deal with this issue. If you deem this to be an issue the legislature needs to take care of, we respectfully request you call the legislature into special session to end medical tyranny and help us secure and protect our most basic human rights and civil liberties.