Last week, Illinois state regulators threatened Dr. Jeremy Henrichs with “personal and professional consequences,” specifically loss of his medical license, if he continued to oppose mandatory mask-wearing in schools.
Henrichs is a board of education member and a medical doctor.
He questioned the necessity of masks. Why? On the basis of his best medical judgment — and he is hardly alone in seeing good reasons to oppose mask mandates, especially for children. In response, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation “has threatened my medical licensure unless I expressly support and enforce a mask mandate for all students.”
In his public protest, Henrichs added that it’s bad for democracy when people tolerate this kind of intimidation.
Fortunately, in this particular case the intimidation is not being tolerated, for state lawmakers called for hearings on the matter.
The agency that threatened Dr. Henrichs soon apologized, apparently ending the threat to him. (According to the letter of apology, though, the complaint won’t be formally closed until the Medical Disciplinary Board meets on September 1.)
In addition, the entire Mahomet-Seymour school board of which Henrichs is a member has signed an op-ed defending him.
Their op-ed argues that board members should be “free to express their opinions, debate with their colleagues . . . and vote their conscience without the threat of coercion. . . .”
So it’s looking good for Dr. Henrichs. But power-holders with censorious mentalities are still out there, eager to crack down on speech with which they disagree.
Whenever they can get away with it.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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