Free the Smiles
We had several requests for a synopsis of our interview last night on the history of masking in NC.
Here you go.
Prior to 2020, NC had a decades old “anti-mask” law. It made wearing a mask in public illegal for obvious reasons of public safety. General Statute 14-12.11…
On May 2, 2020, the Republican majority NCGA passed Session Law 2020-3 (Senate Bill 704). This created an “exemption” to the state’s anti-mask law (G.S. 14-12.11)
This temporarily made it legal to wear a mask in public for reasons of public health.
This exemption was set to expire on August 1, 2020 at which point in time the anti-mask law would have gone back into place without exemptions.
On June 23, 2020, Cooper wrote an executive order (EO147) forcing NC Citizens over the age of 2 to wear a mask in public and at all places of public accommodation. The EO went into effect at 5PM on Friday, June 26, 2020.
EO 147 was the first mask mandate that had teeth to it.
On pages 6-7 under F&Q “Enforcement”, it became very clear that NC would become a state in which both civil and criminal penalties could be enforced for those who did not follow Cooper’s “orders.”
Cooper specifically made businesses the enforcement arm of his orders.
In this way, he not only violated the constitutional rights of NC citizens to make medical decisions for themselves, he interfered with businesses.
This would not have been possible but for the Republicans working collaboratively with him to temporarily suspend the state’s anti-mask law via the May 2 “Exemption” using SB704 as the vehicle.
Those of us following the collaboration between the Republican majority NCGA and our tyrannical Governor took comfort in knowing that the NC “anti-mask” law would go back into place on August 1, 2020 as the exemption to the anti-mask law would expire on that date.
Those of us who knew that a mask would NOT prevent the spread of respiratory viruses fought what was happening but took comfort in knowing that August 1 would restore our rights to body autonomy.
We expected the Republican legislature to add an amendment prior to August 1 that allowed for a mask exemption for anyone who WANTED to wear a mask by personal choice for the purpose of “preventing the spread of C19”.
To our absolute shock, on July 8, 2020, the NCGA passed S232 which PERMANENTLY suspended the state’s anti-mask law giving Cooper blanket authority to permanently mask us by means of Executive Order.
Yesterday, the NCGA passed SB 173 Committee Substitute adding section 115.c which gives parents the ability to “opt out” of school mask mandates annually from here on out.
It is now obvious to all who are watching that mask mandates for children in NC are the “New Normal” from which exemptions must be asserted.
It is 100% clear that the NC Republicans have worked just as hard as Roy Cooper to forever change North Carolina from a Constitutional Republic to a state in which Communist Public Health Policy is the norm.
Republicans are now grandstanding, pretending they gave back parents something they never had the right to take away.
And in the process, they have literally codified school mask mandates in perpetuity.
What does the word “annual” in SB173 tell you?
Masks are never going away.
What can be done?
- Demand that the Republican majority NCGA reinstate the decades old anti-mask law (reversing S232).
- This will not only repeal SB173 which makes masks normative and permanent for school age children with the option to “opt out”, it will get masks off of all NC citizens, employees, and college students.
- Do not let them convince you that what they did yesterday was a victory for freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth.
- Replace any incumbent who will not commit to reinstating the NC General Statute 14-12.11.
Call your NC state senator and state representative today and ask them for a commitment to vote to reinstate the anti-mask law. Please comment below with their responses.
Link to the bill below.
https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2021/s173
