Host: Dr. Ryan Cole | Guests: Leah Wilson, Esq., Leslie Manookian
States across the country are introducing legislation to restore medical choice, protect the doctor–patient relationship, and push back against one size fits all health mandates.
This week, Dr. Ryan Cole is joined by Leah Wilson, Esq., Executive Director and Co-founder of Stand for Health Freedom, and Leslie Manookian, President and Founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund, for a timely discussion on the Medical Freedom Act Coalition.
We are in the middle of legislative sessions across the United States, and a growing number of states are introducing legislation that would restore medical autonomy to individuals and families. This momentum didn’t happen overnight. It is the product of years of grassroots organizing, legal challenges, and a landmark legislative victory in Idaho that is now serving as a model for the rest of the country.
At the center of this effort is the Medical Freedom Act Coalition, a coordinated group of 15 organizations united around a single goal: passing Medical Freedom Act legislation at the state level. The constitutional argument is straightforward: the Ninth and Tenth Amendments establish that unenumerated rights still belong to the people and that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states.
Tonight’s guests make the case that medical autonomy is among the most fundamental of those rights.
“No one in no government has the right or authority to tell us what we should put in our bodies. And that’s really the crux of all of this. This is not a scientific debate, because we all know that science has divergent approaches and opinions, and that there’s never going to be truly scientific consensus, and therefore it falls on the person to know how to best care for themselves.”
—Leah Wilson
Meet the Experts
Leslie Manookian
Leslie Manookian is President and Founder of Health Freedom Defense Fund (HFDF), a nonprofit that seeks to rectify health injustice through education, advocacy, and legal challenges to unjust mandates. She is a former Wall Street executive, award-winning documentary filmmaker (The Greater Good), and qualified homeopath. She serves on the boards of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Health Freedom Idaho, and the Health Freedom Foundation.
Leah Wilson, Esq.
Leah Wilson is Executive Director and Co-Founder of Stand for Health Freedom (SHF), a nonprofit advocacy platform dedicated to protecting basic human rights, constitutional rights, and parental rights. An attorney and graduate of the Saint Louis University School of Law, Leah founded SHF in 2019 after vaccine mandates blocked her family from fostering children in their home. She is also co-author of Reclaim Vitality: A Guide to Exit Conventional Medicine and Live Naturally.
1. The Idaho Medical Freedom Act and How the Coalition Formed
The coalition traces its roots to Idaho. After the state passed the Coronavirus Stop Act banning COVID-19 shot mandates specifically, Leslie Manookian asked the obvious next question: why not ban all medical mandates? She wrote a comprehensive bill. The governor vetoed it. Both chambers brought back competing versions and ultimately forced his hand. The Idaho Medical Freedom Act was signed into law on April 4, 2025.
The law prohibits any public or private entity from mandating any medical intervention—masks, tests, injections, medications, devices—for nearly all Idahoans, and protects citizens from discrimination based on medical status. The only carve-out was for healthcare workers, due to a Supreme Court case and federal funding ties.
“Basically we got this landmark legislation passed, which protects the right of all Idahoans to make their own medical choices free of any kind of coercion or penalty for those choices. So no public or private entity can force you to take a medical intervention in order to live a normal life.”
—Leslie Manookian
After passage, fifteen organizations came together to replicate the effort nationwide. Leslie and Leah’s teams created a model bill and support toolkits for both grassroots advocates and legislators.
2. Where Bills Stand Across the States
Eight Medical Freedom Act bills were introduced in January and February 2026, with two states already holding committee hearings by the time of this webinar. Several bill authors are physicians. States with active efforts include Idaho, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Oklahoma. Indiana introduced a bill classifying unwanted medical interventions as “medical battery,” but the short session ended before it received a hearing.
Idaho is advancing an expansion bill, HB574, which would remove the healthcare worker carve-out.
The coalition’s key advantage is proof of concept. There have been no court challenges to the Idaho statute and no outbreaks since passage — consistent with countries like the UK that don’t mandate vaccines for school or healthcare workers.
“This is a free market approach, and when there is a really good solution to a really bad problem, uptake stays high.”
—Leah Wilson
3. Answering the Pushback
Advocates will face predictable objections. Here’s how the guests address the most common ones.
“What about polio?”
Countries that never used the polio vaccine saw similar declines in incidence. Diagnostic criteria were also changed in the U.S. coincident with the vaccination program, making it appear cases dropped when the way the disease was categorized had simply changed.
“What about lice, pink eye, or other contagious conditions?”
Nothing in the bill prevents a school from sending home a sick child. It prevents the school from dictating how the parent treats the condition.
“What about meningitis and fevers?”
Fever is the body’s natural immune response. Meningitis is statistically uncommon outside college dormitory and military barracks settings. Mandating procedures based on fear rather than individual assessment undermines the doctor-patient relationship.
“What about public health during a real pandemic?”
The Constitution was written for times of emergency — that’s when the temptation for overreach is greatest. Legislative responses during emergencies have historically granted sweeping liability shields to manufacturers, creating less accountability when more is needed. If a product is good, people will choose it freely.
Leslie draws a useful distinction: public health should address the commons — sanitation, drinking water, air quality. “Somehow in recent decades, it’s been understood to intrude into the personal private medical decisions of the individual. And there’s a difference between public health and personal health.”
4. How to Get Involved
Sign up for action alerts. Stand for Health Freedom works with 46 state partners and sends targeted alerts when legislation is active in your state.
Build relationships with your legislators. Meet them in the off-session. Establish trust over time. This is the foundation of every legislative win—Leslie credits 15 years of relationship-building for Idaho’s success.
Idaho residents: Contact Chairman Van Der Wadda of the House Health and Welfare Committee and ask him to give HB574 a hearing.
Run for something. School board, health board, state legislature.
Don’t give up if a bill doesn’t pass this year. Many pieces of legislation take multiple rounds. Persistence matters.
Follow Health Freedom Defense Fund on X/Twitter to stay current on legal challenges and legislative efforts.
“The only place we actually can do this work is at the state level, because that’s what the Constitution says. And so not only can we do it there, we must do it there.”
—Leslie Manookian
Resources and Recommended Reading
- Health Freedom Defense Fund | Follow on X/Twitter
- Stand for Health Freedom — Sign up for action alerts
- Idaho HB574 (Medical Freedom Act expansion bill) — Idaho Legislature website [PLACEHOLDER: direct bill link if available]
- How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn — Recommended by Leslie Manookian during the show
- The Greater Good — Award-winning documentary exploring the vaccine debate, written and produced by Leslie Manookian
- Reclaim Vitality: A Guide to Exit Conventional Medicine and Live Naturally by Leah Wilson and Dr. Nick Wilson
