Exclusive: Rep. Diana Harshbarger Bill to Allow Citizens to Sue over Vaccine Mandates

Republican Study Committee (RSC) member Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) proposed a bill Tuesday that would allow citizens to sue the federal government as well as state and local governments that may jeopardize one’s job with harsh coronavirus vaccine mandates, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.

Harshbarger’s bill would allow citizens who feel forced to take the coronavirus vaccines to bring civil actions for compensatory damages, including economic and non-economic damages, against the federal government and any state or local government that imposes a mandate that threatens one’s employment.

Harshbarger said in a statement that Americans should not have to choose between their jobs and their employment,

“The Biden Administration’s unconstitutional mandates forced many Americans to choose between their job or getting vaccinated. While this is wrong and never should have happened, those forced into vaccination should have full rights to pursue legal action if they are injured,” she explained. “My bill — the Protecting Americans’ Medical Rights Act — is a step in the right direction towards holding this administration and our government accountable.”

“The Left forced Americans into medical procedures against their will and simultaneously restricted their right to sue for injuries,” RSC Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN) said. “It’s unacceptable. If vaccine mandates are ethical, why do they require a legal carveout? The Protecting Americans’ Medical Rights Act will give Americans hurt by a medical decision they were forced into a real, substantive legal recourse.”

Reps. Banks, Bill Posey (R-FL), Dough LaMalfa (R-CA). Randy Weber (R-TX), Brian Babin (R-TX), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Yvette Herrell (R-NM) are the original cosponsors of the legislation.

Under current law, Americans have few legal remedies to seek compensation for those that have been impacted by the coronavirus vaccine mandates. Those seeking compensation generally have to use the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CPIP). This program has no court, judge, or right to appeal, and decisions are made solely by a bureaucratic administrator. Compensation for lost wages and death benefits are often arbitrarily capped, with no opportunity for collecting damages for pain and suffering, and a one-year statutory limit for making a claim. There is also no compensation for attorney fees, which makes it difficult for lower-income Americans to find legal counsel.

In contrast, Harshbarger’s legislation would let any citizen sue the federal government or any state or local government in a federal district court for relief and compensatory damages whose employment was impacted by the coronavirus vaccine mandates. It would also allow courts to award attorney’s fees to a citizen that wins in court.

Since the release of the coronavirus vaccines, and as of February 1, 2022, not one single American has been awarded compensation through CPIP for coronavirus-vaccine injury claims.

One study found that .3 percent of participants reported an allergic reaction or anaphylaxis after partial vaccination, and .2 percent experienced a negative reaction after full vaccination. The CDC maintains that less than one percent of those who received the Pfizer vaccine experienced a serious adverse effect.

The legislation’s “Congressional Findings” declare that coronavirus vaccine mandates are “authoritarian” and lack a “scientific basis” for public health needs:

Government-imposed COVID-19 vaccine mandates that threaten Americans’ jobs and livelihoods are authoritarian, unnecessary, overreaching, irrational, needlessly divisive, and lack a purported scientific basis for public health needs. 

The policy of the United States is to recognize, defend, and protect the inherent rights of the individual, including the right of liberty, the right to be secure in one’s person, the right of the individual to be informed about any medical procedures, treatment, or vaccination, and the right of the individual to provide or withhold consent to such procedures, treatment, or vaccination.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirm that while COVID-19 vaccination can lessen the severity of illness for individuals in certain higher-risk categories, it DOES NOT preclude Americans from contracting, spreading, or being hospitalized by the COVID-19 virus. 

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The protection of individual rights to make one’s own medical decisions in consultation with his or her health care provider — without fear of coercion, forced vaccination, loss of civil liberties, or risk of adverse employment action — is especially needed at a time when it is critical for our Nation to increase trust in public health officials. Protection of these individual rights is also vital for encouraging — where and when medically appropriate — vaccination and/or other scientific measures for keeping Americans safe and healthy.

“This Act further protects Americans’ constitutional medical rights by holding federal, state, and local governments accountable for unnecessary, irrational, overreaching, and liberty-infringing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, when many other scientifically-proven, and less liberty-intrusive tools exist for mitigating the effects of and protecting against COVID-19,” the findings conclude.

Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.