At a legislative meeting in Kansas on Saturday, opponents of vaccine mandates condemned such orders, with one person claiming they're part of a plan to "annihilate humanity."
During the meeting, members of the public gave testimony to lawmakers on the state legislature's Special Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates. A number of them cited misinformation about vaccines and called mandates "dangerous," "child sacrifice" and a "tool of communism," The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
State Senator Mark Steffan, who is an anesthesiologist, kicked off the meeting by saying the debate over vaccine mandates is part of a fight for the "soul of our nation."
"We flooded with millions of dollars here in the state of Kansas a propaganda campaign that runs on slogans, such as, 'It's safe and effective,'" he said, according to the newspaper.
The COVID-19 vaccines are "safe, effective, and free," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Several studies have shown the vaccine is effective in reducing the risk of COVID-19, and serious side effects are "extremely unlikely," said the agency.
Still, several speakers voiced concerns about vaccines and mandates at the Saturday meeting. One of them, Jeffrey McOwen, said he believed the mandates would "ignite a passion not seen since 1776."
He claimed death statistics would be lower if "hospitals were not incentivized to treat COVID patients, we didn't use fraudulent PCR tests with inflated cycle thresholds and doctors treated off-label with hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin," according to the Capital-Journal. Both hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin have been not proven in preventing or treating coronavirus.
Another speaker, Mary Anne Sause, claimed mandates are "the start of a sinister plan to annihilate humanity."
"Mandates are a form of slavery, a tool of communism," she said.
A speaker named Connie Newcome compared the vaccines to "child sacrifice."
"Just because thousands of people died from COVID does not justify the killing of more through gene therapy," she said. "Please use your pro-life stance to stand for the individual's right to choose."
Vaccines do not change or interact with DNA "in any way," according to the CDC.
Several speakers said they would be willing to lose their jobs if they were to be required to take the vaccine. Lori Martin said she is not "anti-vax," but "it is between me and my God to determine when I will participate in such."
Brian Luedeke compared the vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, saying they are "representative and reminiscent of Nazi Germany and the mandate for Jews to identify themselves with an armband." Jewish groups have previously condemned these comparisons.
Only one speaker throughout the day supported mandates. "Beds are being taken by people who have not been vaccinated from people who have other medical conditions needing hospitalization," Sheila Sonnenschein said. "The health care workers are overworked physically and emotionally because of people who do not want to get the vaccine. We wouldn't need a mandate if the majority of people were vaccinated."
