What a year 2019 has been!
Thinking back to this time last year, none of us could have imagined the depths of the challenges or the severity of the attacks we would face nor could we have dreamed of the amount of growth and blessings we would experience in spite of (and sometimes as a direct result of) these challenges. One thing we have always known, however, and has become more apparent in the past months than ever before: YOU are the key to keeping informed consent, medical privacy, and vaccine choice thriving in our great state.
You are the key and Big Pharma knows it!
That’s why so far in 2019 the pharmaceutical lobby has spent nearly $230,000,000 to enact public policies that drive a wedge between you and your medical provider and place their profits over your free will. This makes them number one in industry lobby spending at an amount that is nearly double that of the number two placeholder. It’s as simple as this: your right to medical freedom and vaccine choice is a threat to their bottom line and they will continue to do all they can to remove YOU from the equation. Their pockets and the lengths to which they are willing to go are limitless.
This is truly a David vs. Goliath story,
but don’t be discouraged!
Would this giant spend billions lobbying against you, propagandizing your position in the media, and silencing you through censorship if your contributions to this movement were insignificant? No matter how big they are, the true power lies in your hands. Just look at what we were able to accomplish this legislative session thanks to your contributions:
We countered the opposition’s efforts at the capitol with Capitol Kids Canvas Day!
Held weekly, CKCD’s consisted of quick office visits to every legislator’s office to distribute materials targeting a specific message relevant to the vaccine choice topics in the media or in the legislature that particular week. This ensured each legislator had all the information necessary to make informed policy decisions. These efforts totaled nearly 2,400 face-to-face conversations with legislators and their staff!
We countered the opposition’s efforts at the capitol with our two day signature event, the third legislative Freedom Fight and Rally!
It began with a full day of speakers from around the nation (including medical professionals and legislators) who equipped and empowered our members in their advocacy. The event culminated in a much talked about rally attended by over 600 Texans on the South Steps of the capitol.
We countered the opposition’s efforts at the capitol by
showing up to testify at bill hearings!
Thanks to the resources provided by your contributions, we were able to equip and empower our members to provide important personal context to legislation that would impact our families. Additionally, we had several medical professionals testifying to legislators in support of our position during these hearings. Altogether, nearly fifty-five testimonies were given by TFVC members during three hearings.
None of this could have been accomplished without YOUR financial support. And while the stats mentioned above are all sources of great pride (see much more of what TFVC was able to accomplish thanks to you in our Legislative Summary HERE), with your help we hope to blow them out of the water next legislative session!
Along with attempting to railroad your rights in the legislature, Big Pharma has employed Big Tech and Big Media to parrot their “safe and effective” mantra while using fear and divisive rhetoric to paint this human rights issue as an “us vs. them” war.
Here in Texas, we saw local television and print media run a coordinated state-wide campaign publicizing information they obtained through a FOIA request: campus level exemption numbers for public schools. These sensationalized reports that aimed at turning community members against one another based on the false premise that students attending school with an exemption for one or more vaccines are somehow a threat to the remaining (vaccinated) student population paired nicely with the wall-to-wall media coverage of the less than two dozen measles cases Texas experienced this spring.
We here at TFVC did not take this lying down! Utilizing the resources provided by YOU, we were able to combat the local media’s misinformation by creating literature and social media content that proved exemption numbers do not correlate to disease outbreaks in the community. We launched a successful “Facts Over Fear” social media campaign to combat the one-sided media coverage. This campaign featured easy-to-read-and-share memes with reputably cited information about measles and the measles vaccine to arm the public with knowledge rather than incite fear.
We also publicized information from the state health department that revealed the majority of the 21 measles cases were in vaccinated adults and none of the cases were in a child attending school with an exemption – completely contrary to the picture the media and our opposition were trying to paint – and made sure this information was in the hands of legislators.
In our efforts to make factual information available to the public, we encountered one major obstacle:
ever-increasing internet censorship.
Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and others applauded each other as they removed what they arbitrarily labeled “anti-vaccine misinformation” from search results and newsfeeds. We temporarily lost the ability to email our members as MailChimp deleted our account without warning and even Wikipedia refuses to allow edits the TFVC page on their site that correct the misinformation it contains.
But guess what? Despite all of this,
TFVC membership and influence GREW!
Our official membership count crossed the 10,000 threshold, our Facebook followers grew from just over 18,000 in January to nearly 28,000 today, and our social media posts reach many thousands of people daily. We found a new (and better!) company to host our email communications, and we have set up a page on the censorship-free social media platform All Social in anticipation of the day Facebook removes our page without warning. We have dreams of setting up our very own communication platform of which we will have complete control & can utilize to communicate quickly and effortlessly with all of our members at once — a dream we know is within reach with the support of members like you.
This year, thanks to YOU, TFVC has defied the odds and grown stronger and more influential.
Big Pharma is coming after each of us. They have infiltrated and corrupted our medical system. They have wormed their way into our state house. They want you to receive only their self-serving narrative via their bought media. They are setting up camp in your children’s schools and daycares – your home is next. Why? Because YOU are the only thing that stands in their way. YOU, the thoughtful, informed, powerful Texas citizen. We are stronger together, and through TFVC’s exhaustive advocacy efforts made possible by your generous giving we will continue to be a force that leaves “The Bigs” shaking in their fancy boots.
Please consider closing 2019 with a one time investment in your family’s medical freedom, or demonstrate your commitment by becoming a TFVC monthly donor.
No amount is too small and no gift is taken for granted. Team TFVC & each of your fellow TFVC Members thank you for your willingness to commit your resources – time, talent, and treasure – to protecting our families.