The Lee County Republican Party Executive Committee passed a “Ban the Jab” resolution Tuesday night, asking the Florida Legislature to ban the COVID vaccine and the Attorney General’s Office to confiscate all doses within the state.

The resolution passed by a voice vote of the attending committee membership as presented after discussion split largely into two camps: whether banning the injections would be an infringement of individual choice and the prevailing view — that a lack of informed consent is not consent.

The resolution received the required two-thirds majority for passage.

The resolution, to now be sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the State Legislature as a formal position of the LeeGOP, states that strong and credible evidence exists that injections are “biological and technological weapons” and cites various sources to substantiate its position that “government agencies, media and tech companies, and other corporations, have committed enormous fraud by claiming Covid injections are safe and effective.”

Such “continued experimentation on humans and denial of informed consent are violations of the Nuremberg Code and therefore constitute crimes against humanity,” the resolution states, calling upon … “Governor DeSantis and the state legislature to prohibit the sale and distribution of Covid injections and all mRNA injections in the state of Florida, and for the state Attorney General to immediately seize all Covid injections and mRNA injections in the state of Florida and have a forensic analysis conducted.”

Among those opposed were members of the executive committee of the Southwest Florida Young Republicans Club.

“Basically our issue on it was we felt is was an overreach by the government,” said Olivia Erfman-Tenzel, president of the Southwest Florida Young Republicans.

Proponents kept mentioning they had a moral obligation to ban the vaccine in the state of Florida because, in their view, people in Florida weren’t smart enough to take the vaccine or not, she said, adding that position sets a course few may want to follow.

“You end up going down this rabbit hole,” she said. “If we start banning everything that harms people, that affects their health, then we should ban other things such as smoking cigarettes or alcohol.”

The Cape Coral Republican Club does not take positions on resolutions under consideration by the Lee Republican Executive Committee, said Andrew Sund, the club’s president who had served as the REC’s treasurer until new leadership was elected in December.

He has a strong personal opinion, though, and spoke in opposition of the Ban the Jab Resolution Tuesday night.

He summed up that position when reached by phone Wednesday.

“I believe that the resolution that passed is antithetical to everything we believe as Republicans,” Sund said. “We can’t say we believe in personal freedom and letting people make individual choices and then take away their ability to make those choices. It’s not different than the people mandating the vaccine. Both are equally bad.”

The Breeze reached out to all members of the Lee County Legislative Deletion via email Wednesday morning as to their reaction to the resolution now to be sent their way.

As of Wednesday afternoon, The Breeze had received one response from state Sen. Kathleen C. Passidomo, R- District 28:

“In my view, each person should make their own decision about the Covid-19 vaccine.

“I know our Surgeon General is very involved in investigating the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine for different segments of our population. I understand he has a particular expertise in cardiology, and has raised many concerns about the impacts of the vaccine on the heart as it relates to younger men. That’s important work that I support, and I look forward to learning more about his research and recommendations as they become available.

“I share the very serious concerns that have been raised regarding how information about COVID-19 was shared with our citizens by the federal government. Quite frankly, everything we were told from the federal government (from the origins of the virus, to 14 days to slow the spread, to the efficacy of lockdowns, masks, treatments and vaccinations) has been wrong to some degree or another. That’s why I’m grateful we have a leader like Governor DeSantis who worked so hard to keep Florida free from the misguided mandates imposed by other states and by the federal government, which so clearly trampled on individual liberty and rejected the dignity of work.

“This session, in partnership with Governor DeSantis, we will pass legislation to make permanent to protections in state law that protect the dignity of work, the responsibility to parent, and the right to live in freedom,” she said via email.

The resolution, as approved, states:

Ban the Jab Resolution:

On behalf of the preservation of the human race, the Lee County Republican Party calls upon Governor DeSantis and the state legislature to prohibit the sale and distribution of Covid injections and all mRNA injections in the state of Florida, and for the state Attorney General to immediately seize all Covid injections and mRNA injections in the state of Florida and have a forensic analysis conducted. 8

The resolution then attaches footnoted links to “Small Sample of Supporting Data” for each numbered paragraph.

It was accepted for vote Tuesday after first receiving the required 2/3 majority from the six-member REC leadership.

Editor’s note: This is an evolving story. Comments from members of the Lee Legislative Delegation will be added when and if received.