The Guide to

Wyoming’s Health
Care Freedom Act
The purpose, reasoning and history of Wyoming’s effort, to preserve
individual freedom in health care.

Wyoming’s Future
www.WyomingHealthFreedom.org, www.WyomingsFuture.org
Douglas Gerard, Executive Director
(307) 682 4909
Paid for by Douglas Gerard
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Purpose ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Legal Basis ........................................................................................................................................ 3
The Health Care Freedom Act .......................................................................................................... 6
The Proposed Text of the Amendment ........................................................................................ 6
Section Commentary.................................................................................................................... 7
History .............................................................................................................................................. 8

The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Nationally ..................................................................................................................................... 8
In Wyoming .................................................................................................................................. 8
Frequently Asked Questions ............................................................................................................ 9

Appendices
A – Legislative Service Office Memorandum on preemption of federal law

B – Arizona Health Care Freedom Act

C – Initial 2009 version of the Wyoming Health Care Freedom Act

D – 2010 version of the Health Care Freedom Act

E – Amendment or statues analysis from the Goldwater Institute

F – Survey of legislative candidate support for the Health Care freedom Act

1
 The Guide to
Wyoming’s
Health Care
Guiding
principle
The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Everyone wants health

care reform. We all
Freedom Act
want costs reduced and
The purpose, reasoning and history of
better care provided for Wyoming’s effort, to preserve individual
those who are least freedom in health care.
advantaged.
Introduction
No matter how Freedom is the cornerstone of Wyoming and America. Nothing is
"necessary" some may more personal than your health and health care.
deem it; it never, ever, Everyone wants health care reform. We all want costs reduced and
makes sense to take better care provided for those who are least advantaged.

rights away from one It is of paramount importance that personal liberty be respected in
citizen to confer the health reform. No matter how "necessary" some may deem it; it
never, ever, makes sense to take rights away from one citizen to
guise of safety to confer the guise of safety to another.
another.
Unfortunately this is precisely what some individuals want to do with
health reform. Either by government mandate, enforcement of the
dictates of a government panel of "experts" or even simply the
rationing of health care, your right to make decisions about your
health and health care is being eroded. In fact the recently passed
2 Health care reform, the Patient protection and Affordable Care act
directly violates these basic American principles.
 The cornerstone of health care reform must be the protection and
preservation of the rights of people to make their own health and
health care choices.

Without that protection, lobbyists, bureaucrats and politicians will

create rules and regulations that make it harder and more difficult to
get any health care without the approval and authorization of the
government and special interests.

Wyoming's Health Freedom Act safeguards the personal liberty of

Guiding every Wyomingite by preventing government control of your health
principle and health care decisions.

The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Health care reform, yes, Purpose
The Health Care Freedom Act is a proposed amendment to the
but PROTECT OUR
Wyoming Constitution that would preserve an individual’s right to
FREEDOM FIRST!
make their own health care decisions.

Our right to make our own health care decision has been implicit in our
republic since its inception. We believe our governments, both state
and federal, exist and derive their power from the consent of the
governed. As such, it is only proper that the people of Wyoming be
consulted to explicitly preserve or yield any individual right to
government.

We believe it of paramount importance to ask the people of Wyoming

through a constitutional amendment referendum if the fundamental
right to make our own health and health care decisions is worth
preserving or is it worth yielding to our governments.

Legal Basis
The two most frequently asked questions about the Health Care
Freedom Act are, “Will it work?” and “Is it constitutional?” The answer
to both questions is an undeniable, ‘yes’.

The Wyoming Legislative Service Office prepared an excellent memo

(see appendix A) regarding preemption of state laws and constitutional
provisions by federal law.
3
 The memo ultimately reaches a conclusion that says “a state cannot, by
statute or by constitutional amendment, override a valid federal
statute or mandate.”

This is accurate as far as it goes, however it only starts the legal

conversation, but it does not complete it. If it did, then any time there
was a clash between state and federal laws, the federal government
would always win. But the federal government doesn’t always win, as
illustrated by Horne v Flores, 08-289 (2008) where Arizona challenged
setting its own educational preferences over federal objection, and Wyoming
Gonzalez v Oregon, 546 U.S. 243 (2006) where Oregon won its
Constitution
The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

challenge over federal objection concerning euthanasia.

Article 7,
What does this mean for Health Care Freedom Amendment? The
answer to that can be found in the Wyoming and United States Section 20
Constitutions.

Wyoming’s constitution contains two relevant sections: (Article 1, As the health and
Section 37) which declares that the Constitution of United States is the
morality of the people
supreme law of land; and (Article 7, Section 20) which states the state
legislature has “As the health and morality of the people are essential are essential to their
to their well-being, and to the peace and permanence of the state, it well-being, and to the
shall be the duty of the legislature to protect and promote these vital
peace and permanence
interests…”. The only way these two clauses can coexist in the same
document is if (Article 7, Section 20) reserves to the state primacy on of the state, it shall be
health and health care statutes and regulation, by the 10th the duty of the
amendment of the United States Constitution.
legislature to protect
This 121 year old tenth amendment claim has two significant
and promote these vital
consequences. First, the State of Wyoming has long held that health
and health care are state issues reserved to the state by the 10th interests…
amendment. As such Wyoming has the power to make declarations,
especially by constitutional amendment involving a vote of the people,
to declare an individual right concerning healthcare. Second, the
federal government cannot suddenly ride rough shod over “the duty of
the legislature to promote and protect the health and morality of the
people” because it now suits them to do so, regardless of any novel
and expansive reading of the commerce and supremacy clauses of the
US Constitution.
4
 When the two relevant clauses of the Wyoming constitution are
combined with the US Supreme Court ruling in Gonzalez v Oregon, and
a general election to ratify the amendment, it is clear that the Wyoming
Health Care Freedom Act has a solid legal foundation.

Proposed
amendment to

The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

the Wyoming
Constitution:
Article 1, Section 38.
Protection of individuals
to make their own
health care decisions.

The State of Wyoming

recognizes the right of a
natural person to make
his or her own health
care decisions…

5
 The Health Care Freedom Act
The Health Care Freedom Act has been evolving from the original language based on Arizona’s
Proposition 101 to a newly crafted version drafted by Senator Charles Scott, with help from
Representative Tom Lubnau, and Douglas Gerard, Executive Director of Wyoming’s Future.

The Proposed Text of the Amendment

Article 1, Section 38. Protection of individuals to make their own health care decisions.

(a) The State of Wyoming recognizes the right of a natural person to make his or her own
health care decisions. Neither the State of Wyoming nor any subdivision thereof shall:
The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

i. Limit the ability of any person or entity to obtain any beneficial health care
from an appropriate licensed health care provider acting within the lawful
scope of his practice, providing the person is willing and able to pay for the care
in a manner satisfactory to the health care provider;
ii. Sanction or penalize any health care provider acting within the lawful scope of
their practice for competently providing health care to any person; or
iii. Sanction or penalize any person or entity for participating or not participating in
any particular health care insurance plan or health care system, except for
employers required to participate in the workers' compensation system. This
section shall not be construed as limiting the ability of the state to regulate the
business of health insurance or other business arrangements that promise
payment for health care in the future in return for present payments.
(b) The State of Wyoming shall have the power to:
i. License, regulate, or both, the provision of health care to promote professional
competence and reduce the potential of harm from incompetently provided
health care.
ii. Protect the public from diseases, epidemics and harmful substances.
(c) Nothing in the Constitution shall be construed as requiring the state or any political
subdivision thereof to provide or pay for any health care, except for the workers’
compensation system and for prisoners and others in the custody of the state, or a
subdivision, to the standard deemed appropriate by and enacted into law by the
legislature.
(d) Notwithstanding Article 16 Section 6 of this Constitution, the attorney general may,
subject to the availability of budget and subject to any regulations and restrictions the
legislature may by law provide, provide any citizen of the state with assistance, including
financial assistance, in any litigation to protect the right to make health care decisions
from being abridged by the federal government or any of its agents.

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Section Commentary

Article 1, Section 38. Protection of individuals to make their own health care decisions.

(a) The State of Wyoming recognizes the right of a natural person to make his or her own
health care decisions. Neither the State of Wyoming nor any subdivision thereof shall:
The first sentence clearly recognizes an individual’s right to make his or her own health
care decisions. This is the single most important clause as it provides the foundation for
the legal argument supporting the Health Care Freedom Act.

The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

i. Limit the ability of any person or entity to obtain any beneficial health care
from an appropriate licensed health care provider acting within the lawful
scope of his practice, providing the person is willing and able to pay for the care
in a manner satisfactory to the health care provider;
This section preserves the individual’s ability to obtain any lawful health care
without government interference.

ii. Sanction or penalize any health care provider acting within the lawful scope of
their practice for competently providing health care to any person; or
This protects health care providers from being prevented from providing care by
the government. It is intended to prevent a legal end run around in right to
obtain health care by preventing a doctor, nurse, therapist or other provider
from delivering care.

iii. Sanction or penalize any person or entity for participating or not participating in
any particular health care insurance plan or health care system, except for
employers required to participate in the workers' compensation system. This
section shall not be construed as limiting the ability of the state to regulate the
business of health insurance or other business arrangements that promise
payment for health care in the future in return for present payments.
This section prevents individuals or companies from being mandated into any
kind of insurance system with the sole exception of the workers’ compensation
system. It concludes by preserving the role of the state as insurance regulators.

(b) The State of Wyoming shall have the power to:

i. License, regulate, or both, the provision of health care to promote professional
competence and reduce the potential of harm from incompetently provided
health care.
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This section preserves the role the state has in licensing and regulating health
care providers.
 ii. Protect the public from diseases, epidemics and harmful substances.
This section preserves the role the state has in protecting the general public
health from disease and other catastrophes.

(c) Nothing in the Constitution shall be construed as requiring the state or any political
subdivision thereof to provide or pay for any health care, except for the workers’
compensation system and for prisoners and others in the custody of the state, or a
subdivision, to the standard deemed appropriate by and enacted into law by the
legislature.
(d) Notwithstanding Article 16 Section 6 of this Constitution, the attorney general may,
subject to the availability of budget and subject to any regulations and restrictions the
The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

legislature may by law provide, provide any citizen of the state with assistance, including
financial assistance, in any litigation to protect the right to make health care decisions
from being abridged by the federal government or any of its agents.
This enables the state Attorney General to aid citizens when the federal government
violates the right of an individual to make his or her own health care decisions, subject to
budgetary and statue.

History
Nationally
The Health Care Freedom movement began in in Arizona. It was initially proposed by two
Arizona physicians, Dr. Eric Novack and Dr. Jeffrey Singer, with drafting assistance from the
Goldwater Institute. The measure qualified as a voter initiative on the 2008 ballot as Proposition
101, and despite a well-financed opposition campaign, it was defeated by less than one-half of 1
percent of the vote. Changes were made to address concerns raised by the opponents, and the
Arizona Legislature voted to refer the revised version to the 2010 ballot. The American
Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) adopted model legislation based on the Arizona measure,
and activists and legislators in at least 35 additional states are pursuing constitutional
amendments or statutes based on the Arizona model (See Appendix B).

Virginia has passed a statute based on the ALEC language and is the basis of Virginia’s lawsuit.

Arizona, Florida, Colorado have a referendum on their respective ballots all based on the Arizona
language.

Missouri has held and passed a referendum to amend their Constitution. It passed with over
70% of the people voting in favor the amendment.

8 In Wyoming
The 2008 election brought news of Arizona’s Proposition 101 to Wyoming. This caused several
concerned Gillette citizens to form an informal group, Wyoming’s Future. Douglas Gerard with
the aid of Charlie Gulley spearheaded the effort meeting with then President of the Senate,
Senator John Hines and asked him to pursue this in the Wyoming legislature.

In February 2009, the initial version of the Health Care Freedom Act (see Appendix C) was
brought up in front of the Senate Committee on Labor, Health and Social Services. The measure
was held back as the language was deemed to have too many potentially unintended
consequences. This provided valuable insight as to the structure the future amendment would
have to take.

In August of 2009, the Wyoming Liberty Group joined the fight and authored the 2010 version of
the Health Care Freedom Act (see Appendix D), which ultimately failed in each chamber of the
legislature by two votes. Campbell Country legislators Senator John Hines and Representatives

The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Tom Lubnau and Timothy Hallinan carried the fight in legislature. Support for the measure grew
as Senators Anderson, Bebout, and Case joining Representatives Buchanan, Quarberg and
Simpson in sponsoring the proposed amendment.

In the spring of 2010, Wyoming’s Future reached out to the Senators who voted against the
measure in 2010. Senator Charles Scott was eager to continue work to address the flaws he saw
in the measure. He drafted an original version that had input from Representative Tom Lubnau,
Douglas Gerard, and others had input. This is the version that is presented in the Guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the objective of the Health Care Freedom Act?

Our right to make our own health care decision has been implicit in our republic since its
inception. We believe our governments, both state and federal, exist and derive their power
from the consent of the governed. As such, it is only proper that the people of Wyoming be
consulted to explicitly preserve or yield any individual right to government.

We believe it of paramount importance to ask the people of Wyoming through a constitutional

amendment referendum if the fundamental right to make our own health and health care
decisions is worth preserving or is it worth yielding to our governments.

What will your initiative do?

The "Health Care Freedom Act" will preserve and protect the rights of individuals to make their
own health care and health insurance choices. Currently, many lobbyists and special interest
groups in Wyoming and around the country are promoting policies that would limit or, in some
extreme cases, eliminate the ability of people to have choices when seeking out health care for
themselves and their families. Whether health care "solutions" come from the right or left we
want to make sure "choice" remains a fundamental component.
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 Why does Wyoming need this initiative?

Efforts in Wyoming and around the country are gaining steam to put complete control over your
healthcare in the hands of government bureaucrats and appointed 'experts'. Government
control means you will have less freedom to make the health care choices that are best for you
and your family. Government control over health care means "healthcare-by-lobbyist", not the
health care that you believe is best for you or your family.

Two hundred and twenty years ago, some founders questioned the need for the First and
Second Amendments, and the rest of the Bill of Rights, to be in the US Constitution. Some,
including Alexander Hamilton, believed the Constitution as written provided enough protection.
The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Our rights have been preserved by the First and Second Amendments. The Health Freedom Act
will protect the right to health freedom in the same way.

What is it you are asking the legislature to do by passing the Health Care Freedom Act?

The goal of the Health Care Freedom Act is to preserve the right to make our own health care
choices without interference from government. It is unique among all of the Health Care
Freedom statutes and amendments being considered by the various states. Its uniqueness
derives from the declaration of the fundamental right of individuals to make their own
independent decisions about their health care.

The health care reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed by Congress and
signed into law by President Obama at its core substitutes the judgment of the individual for the
judgment of bureaucrats. It establishes a large number of panels staffed with unelected officials
who will determine everything from the type of insurance you are required to have to what
procedures, treatments, drug and therapies that the insurances will be allowed to cover. It
replaces the judgment of the individual and their heal care providers with that of the
government.

By passing the Health Care Freedom Act we are asking the legislature to allow the people of
Wyoming to determine if preserving health care liberty or accepting the premise of government
selected health care on which the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is based is best for
the citizens of Wyoming.

There are already lawsuits filed by several states making tenth amendment claims in an
attempt to stop the current reform. Why pursue this amendment if that is the goal?

Stopping health care reform is not the goal of the Health Care Freedom Amendment. Rather,
the Health Care Freedom Act will determine if preserving our liberty and establishing the ground
rules for health care reform is important to the people of Wyoming.
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Virginia and Idaho have famously passed statutes to prohibit mandates in their states. We
believe that those statutes are not sufficient to forestall the health care reform. Ultimately the
supremacy clause of the US constitution and the current expansive judicial interpretation of the
commerce clause will invalidate those states’ statutes.

Florida, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Arizona all have placed a state constitutional amendment on
their ballots. Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act is substantially different and provides a
better argument than the current lawsuits and provides a solid declaration of an individual’s
right to make their own health decisions. The most salient difference is that it explicitly declares
the fundamental right for individuals to make their own health care choices. The Health Care
Freedom Act invalidates the core premise of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
namely that government is better off making health care decision for its citizens then are the
citizens themselves.

The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Fortunately, the courts have a history of deferring to the states especially when the issue at
hand is if the question is decided by the people of a state through an election. There have been
recent challenges to the federal government imposing its will on the states contrary to the
preferences of the state. Most notably Oregon won its challenge over federal objection
concerning euthanasia (Gonzalez v Oregon, 546 U.S. 243 (2006)), and Arizona’s challenge in
setting its own educational preferences over federal objection (Horne v Flores, 08-289 (2008));
additionally, the federal government was also stopped from commandeering the background
check provisions of the Brady handgun bill.

If the Health Care Freedom Act is approved by the people of Wyoming, Wyoming will have the
strongest possible tenth amendment argument by declaring it an individual right for every
person to make their own health care choices.

Changing the Constitution is serious business, what makes health care any different from any
other special interest?

Recent constitutional amendments have been proposed for tort reform, legislative control of
property taxes among other issues. Each of these issues does not directly affect the entire
population of Wyoming. While they certainly will have secondary or tertiary effects on the
population as a whole, the entire citizenry is not directly affected by the amendment
themselves.

The Health Care Freedom Act simply codifies the right we enjoyed until recently, namely the
individual’s liberty to make their own health care choices. This directly affects every citizen and
as such is not a special interest amendment being sought by a special interest group defending
its turf.

Everyone eventually needs health care services, and nothing is as personal or as important as an
individual’s health and health care. As such, the Health Care Freedom Act is in the general 11
interest of the state of Wyoming and her citizens.
 Reforming health care ultimately leads to the question: who is better able to determine what is
appropriate for the individual? Is it the government or is it the individual citizen?

It is the central question that should be resolved by the people of Wyoming in being allowed to
vote on the Health Care Freedom Act.

The Wyoming Constitution Article 1, Sec. 37, states: “The State of Wyoming is an inseparable
part of the federal union, and the constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the
land.” Why should we even challenge the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with the
Health Care Freedom Act?

The Health Care Freedom Act is meant to preserve a basic freedom we as a people had
The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

stripped from us when the President signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into
law. With the stroke of a pen, all Americans are no longer able to choose what they believe is
best for themselves in terms of health care. By 2013, the panels and commissions established by
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will determine much of what can and cannot be
done in health care.

Every individual is different and every individual requires unique care based on the preferences
and requirements of the individual and the individual’s doctors. Since the inception of the union
the right to make your own health care decisions has been an implicit right. It is consequently a
grave injustice to strip Wyoming citizens of this liberty without our explicit approval.

Wyoming through her constitution acknowledges the constitution of the United States as the
supreme law of the land. The US Constitution, through the tenth amendment states, “The
powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The Health Care Freedom Act simply removes any doubt that individual medical liberty is a right
reserved by the state of Wyoming for its citizens.

One legislator has stated the Health Care Freedom Act “itself is based on the misguided
political view that states can pick and choose which federal legislation they chose to accept;
that concept was settled by President Lincoln and the Union army.” Is this what the
amendment is about?

While some perceive this as an attack on health care reform, it is not. The Health Care Freedom
Act does not make an attempt to select particular federal legislation. It is a reasoned attempt to
preserve what we believe is a fundamental right of every citizen of Wyoming and indeed of
every American. It is about maintaining the basic ground rules and citizen’s rights on which
health care reform is built.
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Fundamentally this is about what rights we as citizens will allow our government to take from us.
If we are to take the unprecedented step of ceding the most personal of freedoms to our
government, what won’t we yield?

If we are to remain a country where the government derives its’ powers and rights from the
people, its citizens, we must defend and exercise our rights, otherwise we lose the uniquely
American government. We will devolve into a government that can be found throughout the
rest of the world. We will become a country where our rights are afforded to us as the
government sees fit.

Theodore Roosevelt said something similar 125 years ago in Dickenson, North Dakota:

The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Here we are not ruled over by others as in the case of Europe;
here we rule ourselves…When we rule ourselves thusly we
have the responsibilities of sovereigns, not of subjects. We
must never exercise our rights either wickedly or
thoughtlessly; we can continue to preserve them in but one
possible way, by making the best use of them.

Right here, right now we the people of Wyoming deserve the opportunity to decide as the
sovereigns of our state if the right to make our own health care decisions is worth defending or
yielding uncontested to the federal government.

How will the Initiative impact current programs in our state?

The Health Freedom Act will not in any way impact the funding of any state healthcare program.
People currently on Medicare will not be impacted. The ability of individuals to choose their
health care providers and health care plans will be forever protected.

Who are the winners and losers?

The winners are the people of Wyoming, who will have a freedom we have all had for 220 years
placed into the state's Constitution. The losers are those individuals and groups who believe that
a government-run health care system, controlled by bureaucrats and special interests is the best
kind of health care system reform.

Who supports this initiative and why?

Families of all political persuasions who want to have their freedom to make their own health
care choices for themselves and their children believe in the Health Care Freedom Act.
Supporters and advocates for those with disabilities who know that government-run health care 13
will limit their ability to seek out and obtain specialized care and treatments for their loved ones
believe in the Health Care Freedom Act. People who think that naturopathic and homeopathic
 treatments ought to remain available believe in the Health Care Freedom Act. Health care
providers, who know that government run, socialized medical systems limit choice and increase
waiting times for their patients believe in the Health Care Freedom Act.

Who is against this initiative and why?

Advocates for a government run, single payer, and socialized health care system may oppose the
Health Care Freedom Act. Individuals and corporations who would rather lobby government
officials than actually provide health care services will be against this initiative. Why? Because it
is easier for a major corporation to spend money on lobbyists to get bureaucrats to write rules
and regulations that favor companies over people rather than convincing the public that the
The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

service it is offering is a good value.

Does this initiative forbid Wyoming from embracing some form of universal healthcare?

The Health Freedom Act will prevent Wyoming legislators from passing legislation forcing
Wyomingites into a government mandated health care system. It will not prevent the
implementation of ideas, whether they come from the right or the left, that allow patients to
continue to make health care decisions for themselves rather than cede those rights to
government bureaucrats.

How does this initiative impact insurance companies?

Insurance companies are not directly impacted by this initiative. The Health Freedom Act
protects patients, not insurance companies.

How does this initiative impact Doctors?

Doctors are not directly impacted by this initiative. The Health Freedom Act protects patients,
not doctors.

How does this initiative impact Hospitals?

Hospitals are not directly impacted by this initiative. The Health Freedom Act protects patients,
not hospitals.

Is the amendment limited to medical services provided by a physician?

No. The amendment protects the right of individuals to purchase any lawful medical services,
whether provided by physicians or others, such as nurses, therapists, pharmacists,
paraprofessionals, or anyone who may lawfully provide such services.

What do you see as the intended consequences of this initiative?

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The Health Freedom Act will preserve and protect the right of individuals to make their own
health care choices. The initiative will limit the power of special interest groups to engage in
'back room', 'closed door' negotiations to get laws and regulations passed that claim to be for
the benefit of all people, when in fact the laws and regulations first and foremost protect the
interests of those who have the money and power to lobby most effectively.

What are potential unintended consequences of this initiative?

The Health Freedom Act will protect all people against having their resources forced into the
hands of government-which then will give that money to private companies, or place into the
hands of "experts". The private companies and "experts" would then be in a position to
determine what health care services and treatments people can receive.

Who is behind this initiative?

The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

The Health Freedom Act has very broad based support. It is fair to say that the effort is non-
partisan. Polling by one of the nation's leading survey research companies suggests that the
protection of the right to make one's own health care choices is viewed as nearly fundamental
by Democrats, Republicans, the middle class, and women and men of all ages.

Wyoming’s Future is an informal group of dedicated citizens based in Gillette joined by over 300
citizens from around the state in backing the Health Care Freedom act.

The Wyoming Liberty Group joined effort to pass the Health Care Freedom Act in 2009.

How might this initiative affect federal programs adopted by our state?

The Health Freedom Act will be in Wyoming's Constitution. It will have no impact on those who
receive their health care benefits through government programs, including Medicare, Medicaid
or SCHIP.

Does supporting the Initiative mean that I am against health care system reform?

Absolutely not. The Initiative simply states that the cornerstone of any future health care system
reform must include the preservation and protection of the right of individuals to make their
own health care choices.

I am pro-life. Will this Initiative prevent laws from being passed that can limit abortion?

The Initiative does not take any stance on the abortion issue. By focusing on lawful medical
practice, the initiative defers to the legislature to define which medical services are legal and
which ones are illegal.

I am pro-choice. Will this Initiative hurt the current rights of women to choose?

The Initiative does not take any stance on abortion. By focusing on lawful medical practice, the
initiative defers to the legislature to define which medical services are legal and which ones are 15
illegal.
 I believe in freedom of conscience protections for health care providers of all types. Will this
Initiative prevent laws from being passed that address freedom of conscience issues?

The Initiative does not take any stance on freedom of conscience protections. The Initiative does
not restrict in any way an individual health care provider's or insurance company's right to
determine what services to provide, or the legislature's power to protect or expand such rights.
It is not the intent of the Health Care Freedom Act to be interpreted so that health care
providers would be forced to provide health care services with which they have an objection.

Does this mean people can use illegal drugs for medicinal purposes?

The Initiative does not take any stance on medical marijuana or any other currently illegal
The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

substance. By focusing on lawful medical practice, the initiative defers to the legislature to
define which medical services are legal and which ones are illegal.

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 LSO Memorandum
Appendix A

The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

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18
The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Arizona Health Care Freedom Act

Appendix B
 The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act
Appendix C
Initial 2009 version of the Wyoming Health Care Freedom Act

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The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Appendix D
2010 version of the Health Care Freedom Act

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 The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act
Appendix E
Amendment or statues analysis from the Goldwater Institute

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The Guide to Wyoming’s Health Care Freedom Act

Appendix F
Survey of legislative candidate support for the Health Care freedom Act

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