Brunswick Beacon, 06.06.24
Influenza. RSV. Pertussis. These are just some diseases masks can help prevent. COVID-19, too. (It ain’t over folks!) Medical institutions, including Novant Health, routinely recommend wearing masks to patients who are immunocompromised: cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients, those with HIV/AIDS, women who are or were recently pregnant, people with disabilities and people who live in congregate care facilities, such as skilled nursing facilities.
How have the MAGA-nuts in Raleigh responded to overwhelming medical evidence and advice from numerous sources in the public and private sectors? What are they doing to provide for the safety of North Carolinians? They advanced HB237 on strictly partisan lines, which would ban mask-wearing in public for health reasons! Yes, you read that right. NC’s MAGA-infected legislature wants to increase your exposure to dangerous diseases by removing protections needed by vulnerable North Carolinians and recommended by their doctors.
This is no fluke. With bills that require teachers to post lesson plans weekly, that amend building codes to protect developers from communities concerned about overdevelopment, and that restrict gender care for trans citizens, you see MAGA-nuts run amok. By proposing a bill to legalize betting on college and other amateur sports, MAGA-nuts hope to distract you while they control every aspect of your life and make it more dangerous.
The anti-mask bill has political, not health roots. Masking became politicized during the COVID pandemic. How did THAT turn out? A study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that opposition to mask-wearing and vaccination increased cases and deaths. Thanks to MAGA-nuts, the United States suffered more COVID deaths than any other nation on the planet.
MAGA madness won’t end until you vote them out. Reclaim your freedoms and safety by electing Democratic candidates Katherine Randall (Senate District 8), Charles Jones (House District 17), and Jill Brown (House District 19). They will defend you from MAGA’s attempts to run your life and ruin your health.
Ron Veronese
Holden Beach