The WHO is negotiating with 194 countries, including the U.S., to have an international accord in place by May 2024, just over a year away.
Michelle Bachmann, dean of Regent University's school of government, calls the accord an “extraordinary, breathtaking” attempt by the federal government to wrestle control from Americans.
“They would have the power to shut us down in the United States,” she warns, “and tell us if we have to have a shot in our arm, or tell us if we have to wear masks, or a number of other things they would have the power to do.”
According to a USA Today fact-check story, written to dispute claims the U.S. is handing over power, USA Today turned to two experts: the director of the WHO Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law, and a professor of vaccine law at Florida International University.
The expert affiliated with the WHO said the accord seeks “global cooperation” in stopping a global pandemic but it does not dictate a country’s health policy.
The second expert quoted in the fact-check, the professor, said most of the provisions – notably “most” but not all – are “aspirational rather than obligatory” because they promote goals the U.S. is likely already pursuing.
The story went on to call it “unclear” if President Biden needs U.S. Senate approval to sign the accord but Bachmann, a former congresswoman, says the accord is a treaty that is being called an agreement to avoid that obstacle to approval.
Another source is, of course, the WHO itself and its online announcement about the accord. Among the lengthy Q-and-A topics, one question is over how much authority an accord has over countries that sign it.
"Member States will decide the terms of the accord," the WHO states, referring to the Biden administration, "including whether any of its provisions will be legally binding on Member States as a matter of international law."
Reggie Littlejohn is co-founder of the newly-formed Sovereignty Coalition that is fighting the accord. She tells AFN the American public needs to know what is at stake if the treaty is approved. The accord is not just about the WHO controlling U.S. pandemic policy, she warns, but the bigger issue is communist China controls the WHO.
"They could order lockdowns. They could order quarantines. They could order face mask mandates," she warns. " And they could order vaccine mandates, like mandates that everybody in the country be vaccinated with whatever they have come up with as a vaccine."
Editor's Note: This story has been updated with comments from Reggie Littlejohn.
