“Are you refusing to provide care?”
“Yes.” came the firm, frustrated response from the lady behind the counter. Even she seemed surprised at the words coming out of her mouth.
This was going to be a hard lesson. But it was one I was glad my daughter could learn firsthand.
How’d we get there?
It started in October 2021.
Much of the world was still gripped with fear of contracting COVID. But it was becoming more obvious this would last as long as we accepted restraints imposed on us.
It was the part of the story where people start to realize they’re standing in their own way, but not enough want to step back.
It was at this point my daughter took an unfortunate trip over her handlebars, smacking her face on the sidewalk.
All the testing and observation afterward would show she was healing well. But it was a tough time to navigate the healthcare system.
Especially when we had rights to uphold.
One of the last appointments was an ophthalmologist check up in December. If her face healed wrong, it could limit her eye’s range of motion for the rest of her life.
No pressure, dad.
Assert Your Rights
So we walked into this small satellite office for a local hospital system with bare faces. It was the third of the day trying to find the right place.
The receptionist asked us to don masks. In response, I handed her this form and notified her we would not be doing that.
What’s important about this form?
To start, federal funding requires institutions to follow all laws and regulations of the United States. Funding like contracts or Medicare.
But masks only had emergency use authorization to prevent transmission. Meaning they were an experimental countermeasure.
In experiments, participants have a legally protected right to refuse.
The standard “I’m just doing what I’m told” response has some big implications in this context. A lot of funding to support hospital operations is on the line.
Stand Your Ground
What followed was 40 minutes of the receptionist working through the situation.
There was plenty of heated talk over the phone about “these two are sitting in the lobby without masks”. She went into back offices to talk with the doctor. She issued other pleas veiled as threats to get us to comply.
All this was very interesting to watch.
At the end, we got an ultimatum. The doctor running the office had passed off the decision-making. It was now in the hands of the administrative staff at the main hospital.
If I wanted to assert our rights, I would have to take it up with them. They wouldn’t see my daughter under those conditions, and it could take weeks to correct.
Which came down to: put on the mask, or we won’t provide care.
Not a great situation to be in when your daughter’s face is still healing. So we donned masks, with great regret of not video recording the exchange for posterity.
But, they received notice.
What My Daughter Saw
I’ve written before about how important it is for your kids to have good examples.
A lot of people during this time did the wrong thing. Quite a few of them even did bad things. And we may not see justice done for those damaged, as much as it offended our sensibilities.
But we still want to preserve liberty in our time. Standing up for your rights when common wisdom insists you give them up is the key.
Especially in the little things we do everyday when it seems like all we’re giving up is a little convenience.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
-Ronald Reagan
But it also highlighted the choices you need to face when confronting an unjust policy. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my daughter’s health to be right.
Here’s the key: your kids want to see you stick up for them when appropriate. My daughter got to watch her daddy keep his cool while standing his ground for our rights.
Of course, what would this story be without a good epilogue? The mask requirement went away 3 months after giving notices to several parts of this hospital system.
I don’t make it through every encounter this well, but I was glad I could rise this time. Here’s hoping you get a chance to rise for your kids, too.
Affiliate Corner
Looking for others who can get you to this next level of confidence for your family’s sake? Check out Tom Woods School of Life today to join a group of like-minded doers and lovers of liberty.
Looking for more examples of facing unjust laws to share with your kids? Include The Tuttle Twins and The Food Truck Fiasco into your story time.
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