Leading into the Taylor County Republican Convention, the goal of the Abilene Freedom League was to have enough members show up to the event to get a resolution in support of Medial Freedom to the floor, passed at the convention, and to get one of the Abilene Freedom League Directors voted in as a delegate who would be able to go to the State Convention.
The resolution covered how Texans have had their medical liberties attacked for the last two years by both Government and private actors who worked to implement forced vaccinations, status disclosure requirements, lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and passports when it is the right of Texans to make medical decisions for themselves. The Government should never have a say in how you decide to care for you and your family. The government should never treat people differently in the workplace, at public events, or anywhere else based on their medical choices. The resolution seeks to have the Texas Legislature ban vaccine passports, prohibit mask mandates and vaccine mandates of any kind for any reason, prevent Texas employers from using vaccine status to hire, promote, or fire, empower doctors with greater liberty to treat patient's medical conditions, and have the Texas Republican Party designate all these issues as a single legislative priority of medical freedom.
The Abilene Freedom League gives a special shout-out to Phil Crowley (left) and Charles Bryn (right). Both are members of the Taylor County Republican Resolution committee and showed their commitment to medical freedom by ensuring that our resolution made it to the floor for a vote. Phil Crowley is the Republican nominee for Taylor County Judge. Charles Byrn is running for City Council Place 6.
As the convention worked its way through the process it came time for the resolutions. The first of many on the list to be brought to the floor was our resolution in support of medical freedom. It was read out by Charles Bryn, who had been nominated by the resolution committee to read all resolutions that day. He got about halfway through when the Convention Chair interrupted him and pointed out a man in the crowd who was filming the reading of the resolutions. The Chair claimed this was against the rules. He was asked to cite which rule this was in violation of by an Abilene Freedom League Director and couldn't provide a rule but continued his claim that it was against the rules unless everyone in attendance gave their permission. About ten minutes later, another man stood up and read directly from the Republican rules and showed that this portion of the event could be filmed and the Chair was in the wrong.
After the needless interruption from the misinformed Chair ended, the resolution was read fully, and then it was opened for people to speak in support or opposition of the resolution. Jennifer Bell (left), the Abilene Freedom League Director of Finance and Marketing, gave a sound argument in support of the resolution. The crowd applauded her points and no one ever stood up to oppose the resolution. When it came time to vote for the resolution, it was passed unanimously and quite frankly, with as much support as any resolution during the entire event. No one voted against the resolution. This is due to the clarity that the resolution was written in, the words offered in support of it, and the fact that people have had enough after two years. It was surprising to see that none of the long-time establishment wing of the GOP stood against it. This resolution was adopted by all ages, perspectives, and wings of the party in attendance. The goal was to get this passed but the fact that it was unanimous shows the difference the Abilene Freedom League is making as many other resolutions either failed or had some opposition votes.
As for the attendance at the event and the overall presence that the Abilene Freedom League had, here is how it went. The overall turnout for the convention as a whole was not great as around 50 people showed up and this is out of 70,000 registered voters. Quite frankly, that number is disappointing and I hope the party can find new ways to get more people involved in the process. Abilene is dominated by Republicans and there should be a way to get more people to care about these events as they are important. Of the people in attendance, the Abilene Freedom League has around 15 members there, making up at least a quarter of the people at the event. Not only were we able to get the resolution passed and vote in one of the Abilene Freedom League Directors as a State Delegate but we also elected three additional members as State Delegates. The plan is to have this same resolution passed in other Counties across the State and then it will get priority at the State Convention and have built in support when people show up in Houston in June. The Abilene Freedom League members who did show up and did their best to make sure we accomplished our goals deserve some credit as there were definitely some delays in the process due to a range of factors including we had to go through a mock Precinct convention before starting, which set the actual County Convention back by two hours. The fact that it was 10:30 before we really began and it was a Saturday morning when most people have to chase their kids around to sporting events and other stuff no doubt had an impact on the event. One good thing about the delays was during the breaks in action the Abilene Freedom League was able to visit with other GOP members, recruit new members to our organization, and hand out copies of our resolution. That not only helped it pass, but it could also strengthen our presence at the State Convention, and will definitely be beneficial in the future for us.
All in all, the event was a success for the Abilene Freedom League and is another example of what we can accomplish on the local level that will have a direct effect on our lives. It is great to care about what is going on at the National level but complacency on the local level can be every bit, if not more, damaging. Getting involved in local party politics, County races, City board races, and even school board races are very important. Written By Chris Turner Online Content Committee Chair