| Health Freedom Advocates gather
for first Conference by Jerri Johnson and Linda Peterson In the cloistered halls of Assisi Heights in Rochester, Minn., there was a gathering of the most remarkable people. It was the first Conference for Health Freedom Advocates, sponsored by the National Health Freedom Coalition (NHFC). This groundbreaking conference brought together health freedom leaders from across the country to further the cause of health freedom. Many people are unaware of the need for a health freedom movement. After all, statistically, more than half of all Americans are using alternative health care. But it might shock some to know that under the present laws in many states, their alternative practitioners are at risk of being closed down or prosecuted. In most states, unlicensed practitioners of the holistic healing arts such as reflexology, herbalism, homeopathy and Qi Gong are vulnerable to charges of practicing medicine without a license. And licensed practitioners such as doctors, nurses and dentists who are offering alternative services risk losing their licenses for practicing outside of the minimal standards of the accepted and prevailing practice for their profession. In addition, access to products such as supplements and herbs, and information about their benefits, is limited by federal regulations. Amazingly, these laws apply even when there is no showing of harm to the public, and when statements made by practitioners and manufacturers are truthful. You might ask, "Why? They aren't hurting anyone." That is what many of us are asking, and that is precisely why the health freedom movement is rippling across the country, changing antiquated legislation to provide us with the choices we need and want. That is why NHFC was formed: "to promote access to all health care information, services, treatments and products that the people deem beneficial for their own healing, well-being and survival: and to promote the health of the people of this nation." And NHFC has been working tirelessly to educate consumers about existing laws and train advocates who wish to work for change. NHFC teaches them health freedom principles and the basics of organizing and mobilizing resources to make change happen. NHFC has been instrumental in supporting health freedom groups in more than 20 states, and it receives requests for information on a daily basis from across the nation. And NHFC is participating in discussions regarding legal reform of FDA jurisdiction of products that do not pose an imminent risk of harm to the public. Minnesota led the country in health freedom legislation for unlicensed practitioners. Since the groundbreaking passage of the Minnesota Freedom of Access Act 2000, Minnesota consumers now have access to unlicensed practitioners practicing in accordance with MN Stat. 146 A. These practitioners are no longer considered in violation of the Medical Practice Act. Freedom of Access legislation for unlicensed practitioners has also been recently passed in Rhode Island and California. However, in most states, licensed and unlicensed practitioners are still vulnerable, and consumer access to them is jeopardized. National experts mobilized The Health Freedom conference was an incredible experience, bringing together some of the finest minds and most superb activists for health freedom in our country. Keynote speaker Clinton Miller inspired us by recounting the work he has done for health freedom for five decades. Miller was a former baker, who, when he learned about the stripping of nutrients from whole grains, learned to bake whole grain bread for the public, and he delivered his bread on a truck with the words painted on the back, "The whiter the bread, the sooner you're dead!" When he learned about the issues of fluoridation of water supplies, Miller led the effort in Utah to defeat water fluoridation proposals eight times. In 1962, soon after the thalidomide tragedy, when babies were born deformed due to the experimental medication, thalidomide, given to their mothers during pregnancy, Clinton Miller went to Washington and testified that "the fact is dawning on Americans that they have been and are being subjected to extremely hazardous and dangerous medical experiments without their knowledge or consent. No person should be denied the right to know that he is participating as a human guinea pig in a medical experiment, and that he is taking an experimental drug with unknown side effects." Partly as a result of Miller's work, drug reform was passed that required that people be informed when they are given an experimental drug, and that they have the right to refuse consent. In 1962, the FDA proposed rules that would have limited the potency of vitamin and mineral supplements. According to this proposal, any vitamin supplement with a higher potency could only be available by prescription from a doctor! From 1962 to 1972, Miller helped to fight those proposals. He drafted and lobbied for the Proxmire Vitamin Bill, which said that the FDA could not limit potency on vitamins unless they were found to be intrinsically dangerous. Wow! I take for granted my right to take 500 mg of vitamin C every morning! But where would we be today if it were not for heroes like Clinton Miller who fought hard to retain our right to make that choice? Keynote speaker Jim Turner, long-time President of Citizens for Health and a key national leader for health freedom advocacy, is noted for his work in the national health freedom movement to pass the Dietary Supplement Act, ensuring all Americans access to natural substances and choice. As author of Chemical Feast, Turner is well familiar with Americans' use of health and food substances and healing methods and pointed out that more than 125 million consumers have elected to use health care methods that are outside of conventional medicine. Turner's inspiring keynote reflected the expansion of his current focus and leadership as he addressed the broader picture of freedom in our country and our return to a natural state of wholeness. Turner spoke about the concept of our body being able to heal itself, and, similarly, the body politic (our national culture) is able to heal itself, if people are given the information to make good choices. He sees our culture as working to bring about healing changes in many areas -- for example, just as there is a movement for alternative health care, there is also a similar movement for alternative non-toxic energy, green housing, alternative transportation modes, and alternative types of education. This is all one holistic movement in which all the parts are related. Turner maintains that in any issue, the backbone of freedom is information and choice. When people are given those, they can make the choices that are best for them. Attorney Diane Miller, current director of Legal and Public Policy for NHFC, opened the full day events with a keynote speech on the "Principles of the Health Freedom Movement" and spoke especially about our founding father, Thomas Jefferson, and his belief that "liberty and light go together." Having just returned from Washington, D.C., where she worked with the Campaign for Better Health as a member of the policy declaration committee, Diane addressed why people in our country are so deeply and urgently motivated to work for health freedom right now. She described the complexity of the modern day American life and the dependencies we have developed on others for food, shelter, products and services. She described Americans as having politically gone to sleep in their comfort zone until now, when one by one they are waking up after individual experiences that push them into action; for example, having a child die from seizures after a vaccination, or a friend die of cancer after a painful experience with chemotherapy, or having a toxic metal reaction from the use of mercury in dental fillings, or an environmental reaction to pesticides or lawn chemicals. Miller also described a counter force to all of this as old and outdated laws are being applied to situations and consumer choices are being jeopardized; for example, the Lilly Rott case in Oklahoma where four children have been taken away from the parents by child protection because the parents took their daughter with leukemia to a Switzerland Cancer Hospital for care instead of staying in the American hospital; or the case of Billy Best, a young man who had cancer and who uses the supplement 714X from Canada, and now the U.S. government is not allowing it to come into the United States, or a nurse in Wisconsin who was helping people with allergy testing NAET and was charged with practicing medicine without a license, and many more. She urged that we must have freedom now, that freedom to speak and learn and explore are essential for our very survival. Diane described her afternoon alone in Washington, D.C., walking to the Jefferson Memorial and her thinking about the United States Constitution. During her keynote, she read the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence highlighting the Natural Law, and she read the words of Thomas Jefferson highlighting the need to change and revise laws as a country grows and develops into awarenesses. She reminded us of all the great changes to our Constitution, prohibiting slavery, protecting women's vote, and many others, and that they have all been for the good, calling forth and reflecting the deepest longing of America as a whole to be a free and compassionate nation. She ended her speech with Jefferson's belief that light and liberty were one and the same, that "a free government relies on enlightened citizens", that "light and liberty go together" that "the last hope...lies solely on us" and that Jefferson said "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization it expects what never was and never will be." Diane said that she is "certain that we can have liberty in our country, and that liberty will be secured by the light" Bill threatens access again Both Clinton Miller and Jim Turner were instrumental in lobbying for DSHEA, a landmark bill passed in 1994, which gave manufacturers of supplements the right to give consumers truthful information about what the product can do. It allowed the FDA to remove supplements from the shelf if they pose an imminent risk of harm, but then there must be a hearing and they must show that the product is harmful. The burden of proof must be on the FDA to demonstrate it is harmful. However, new proposed legislation, S-722, cosponsored by Charles Schumer, Hillary Clinton and Dianne Feinstein, would reverse much of those hard-won gains. Misleadingly called the "Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003, this bill would give the FDA the potential power to remove thousands of herbs and other dietary supplements from the marketplace. It would shift the burden of proof from the FDA, to prove something is unsafe, to the manufacturer, to prove it is safe, a very difficult and costly undertaking unnecessary for supplements that do not pose an imminent risk of harm to the public. We urge you to call Senators Dayton and Colemen about this bill. Ask them to work to oppose S-722. You can reach Senator Dayton at (612) 727-5220, and Senator Coleman at (651) 645-0323. A highlight of the conference were presentations made by Health freedom leaders from 10 states, educating attendees on the status of health freedom progress in their state and sharing the struggles and successes that they have had mobilizing the forces in their state to secure health freedom. Many state health freedom organizations are now formally incorporated with websites and introducing various forms of health freedom legislation. During the weekend, we all realized that we are not the beginning of this movement, but we are the flow of energy started by leaders much before our time. The gathering included attorneys, lobbyists, practitioners, farmers, business people, presidents of colleges and general consumers. NHFC's mission is to educate, and in addition to keynotes and state leader presentations, accomplished advocates gave educational workshops on how to mobilize the grassroots, how to lobby, and how to raise funds. In America, we have many freedoms that we cherish -- freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to assemble, and to vote and work in the political process. No less important is the freedom to use the kind of health care that we deem best for ourselves -- to have access to the healing practitioners, the products and devices that we wish. Our goal at NHFC is to have an organized presence in all 50 states for health freedom, including knowledgeable health freedom advocates able to respond to any infringement on their rights to access the healing arts. We would love to have you join us in our efforts. To become a member of the National Health Freedom Coalition, visit www.nationalhealthfreedom.org, or call (651) 688-6515. Jerri Johnson and Linda Peterson are board members for the National Health Freedom Coalition. Call (651) 688-6515. Copyright © 2003 Jerri Johnson and Linda Peterson |
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