Supermajority of American Voters Support Health and Medical Freedom, New Poll Reveals + More
Source: Children’s Health Defense
Supermajority of American Voters Support Health and Medical Freedom, New Poll Reveals
A new national poll conducted by Zogby Strategies on February 26-27, 2026, shows overwhelming public support for health and medical freedom, with supermajorities of registered voters (often 80-88%) affirming core rights to refuse medical treatments, make personal health choices, and protect doctors from censorship.
The poll, commissioned by the Health Freedom Defense Fund (HFDF) and Brownstone Institute, surveyed 1,000 likely voters (93.6% definitely or very likely to vote), with a party breakdown of 37% Republican, 36% Democrat, and 27% Independent. The margin of error is ±3.2 percentage points.
Key findings include:
– 87.9% agree that individuals have the right to refuse medical treatment (58.8% strongly agree).
– 87.2% agree that the right to make one’s own medical choices is a basic human right protected by law (59.5% strongly agree).
– 88.1% agree that doctors should be able to discuss vaccine concerns openly without fear of backlash from medical boards (64.5% strongly agree — one of the highest levels of strong agreement).
– 80.4% agree adults should have the right to refuse vaccines (50.5% strongly agree).
– 70.6% agree that personal medical or vaccine decisions should never lead to employment denial (47.3% strongly agree).
– 76.1% agree that health insurance should cover chosen treatments, including holistic and alternative options.
COVID Lockdowns Set Back Children’s Development by Years, Study Reveals
The COVID pandemic disrupted children’s ability to self-regulate, according to new research from the University of East Anglia. A new study reveals that the pandemic hampered children’s ability to regulate their behavior, stay focused and adapt to new situations — skills known collectively as executive functions. The work appears in Child Development.
The greatest impact was seen among pupils who were in reception (typically for children aged 4–5 years) when the first lockdowns began — a crucial stage when youngsters normally learn to socialize, follow routines and navigate the busy world of the classroom.
These children showed less growth in their self-regulatory and cognitive flexibility scores over time compared to a second group of children who were in preschool when the pandemic started. The research team say these children may still be feeling the effects years later.
Desantis’s Priority Vaccine Legislation Makes It to Senate Floor
After shooting down an amendment that would have allowed private schools to continue to require students to be vaccinated, a Senate panel Tuesday night voted to approve legislation that would make it easier for parents to not vaccinate their school-aged children.
“I just wanted to say thank you to the senators for considering the legislation. It’s about the values we hold in high regard. It’s transparency, it’s educated decision making. It’s the right to an education and, again, fundamentally, it’s about parents being able to make the decisions they believe are best for their children,” SB 1756 bill sponsor and Jacksonville Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough said as he closed on his bill in the Rules Committee, its last stop before a Senate floor vote.
The House has not considered a companion bill and with just 10 days left in the 2026 regular legislative session the future of the proposal — a priority for Gov. Ron DeSantis — is not clear. Yarborough told the Florida Phoenix after the vote that he has spent his attention this session shepherding the legislation through the Senate, although he acknowledged, “I have had some conversations with the bill sponsor over there.”
Michigan Republican Lawmakers Propose Vaccination Rights Bills
There are a few steps to get an exemption for a required vaccine here in Michigan, and a group of Republican lawmakers wants to make sure it doesn’t get any more difficult in the future. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan had the fourth-highest vaccine exemption rate in the country in 2014. Since then, the state has implemented new requirements.
“This package of bills isn’t creating exemptions for immunizations. They’re already allowed,” said Rep. Donni Steele, R-Orion Township. Steele said she feels it’s gotten onerous to get an exemption. “What we’re trying to do is protect parental rights, to be able to give the control back to our parents where the control should be,” she said.
According to MDHHS, anyone who wants an exemption for their child will need to take a class on vaccines at their local health department and get a waiver. It’s two steps that Democratic Rep. Matt Longjohn, D-Portage, said are important.
Court Rules Inova Not Joint Employer of Nurses Fired Over Vaccine Refusal
A healthcare company’s vaccine mandate did not make it the joint employer of outside clinical staff, a federal appeals court ruled March 3, 2026. The case started the way many workplace disputes do: a policy, a refusal, and a termination. Two nurse anesthetists, Kelly Hoffman and Lorraine Austin, lost their clinical privileges at Inova Health Care Services facilities in Virginia after they sought exemptions from the company’s Covid-19 vaccination requirement, were denied, and then refused to be vaccinated.
North American Partners in Anesthesia, or NAPA — the anesthesiology company that formally employed them — let them go about two months later. The nurses then sued, arguing that Inova shared responsibility for what happened to them. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit disagreed. Hoffman and Austin were Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists employed by American Anesthesiology of Virginia, a NAPA subsidiary. Under a service contract, American Anesthesiology provided anesthesia staff exclusively to Inova facilities.
Hoffman had worked there for five years; Austin for twenty. When Inova denied their exemption requests in 2022 and suspended their clinical privileges at its facilities, both nurses argued that the company’s role in their professional lives was substantial enough to make it their employer too — a legal concept known as joint employment.
The court was not persuaded.
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