12 of Biden’s 13 amendments to strengthen World Health Organization withdrawn; seen as ‘temporary’ setback to global governance plans

May 28, 2022 in Columnists, News by RBN Staff

 

By Leo Hohmann

We may have dodged a bullet. At least for now.

The United Nations World Health Organization has withdrawn 12 of the 13 amendments submitted by the Biden administration to the current International Health Regulations (IHRs) at the World Health Assembly annual meeting this week in Geneva, Switzerland.

But this may only amount to a temporary reprieve.

The Assembly continues through May 28, and the 12 amendments could be resubmitted, but as of right now they are dead in the water. Biden’s team in Geneva has failed to garner a consensus on these amendments, which would crush national sovereignty in favor of an all-powerful U.N. global health body.

Until this Assembly adjourns we cannot claim victory, and even if it does adjourn it’s only a temporary victory. They will come back with another round of amendments even if they need to call a special meeting, and there is already some conjecture that this could happen as early as September.

Apparently, the backers of the 13 amendments, led by the U.S. Biden administration along with the E.U., could not get a consensus vote of delegates from the 194 member nations.

This news was confirmed by Reuters which reported that “the focus will be on a U.S.-led effort to expedite the application of future reforms from 24 months to 12 months… Negotiations on other proposed changes will take place later amid initial opposition from some members.”

Clearly, there were too many nations not willing to cede their sovereignty to the WHO and its Marxist Leninist director general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia.

Tedros, by the way, was on Tuesday granted a second five-year term as director general.

If passed, the amendments put forth by the Biden administration would empower the WHO to declare a “public health emergency of international concern,” or of regional concern, without the consent of the nation in which the supposed emergency exists.

Some African nations, Iran, Malaysia and Brazil objected to the amendments but for different reasons. The amendments represent one of two separate tracks simultaneously in the pipeline to give the WHO more authority over public health measures worldwide.

One amendment is still on the table, and the other 12 amendments could resurface any time during the WHO meetings.

In a separate attempt at grabbing more power for the WHO, a so-called “Pandemic Treaty” is being drafted, the contents of which are still unknown. The African nations that objected to Biden’s amendments do not appear to oppose their substance. Rather, they want all the changes consolidated in a new “Pandemic Treaty” and not done in piecemeal fashion.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, however, has spoken out publicly saying he will not hand his country’s sovereignty over to the WHO and Tedros.

Bolsonaro blasted the Biden amendments and objected to the WHO gaining more authority.

But other than Bolsonaro, there was little international objection, at least publicly, to giving greater power to the WHO.

Some leaders are enamored with the WHO’s Director-General, Tedros, and others want the WHO to globally mandate universal health care.

The one amendment still up for consideration as of today was the change to Article 59 of the International Health Regulations, which have been in place in their current form since 2005: This amendment proposes to change the amount of time nations have to reject amendments from 18 to six months. The existing WHO regulations provide for an 18-month grace period during which a nation may withdraw its “yes” vote for any amendments.

On January 18, 2022, officials from the Biden administration quietly sent the WHO 13 amendments to the current International Health Regulations without an official statement or a single press conference or press release.

The proposed amendments, in combination with the existing ones, enables Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and any future Director-General to have unrestricted powers to define and then implement their interventions and to declare “health emergencies” at will.

The contents of the proposed amendments were not made public until April 12, 2022 when they were posted to the WHO website. A few days later researcher James Roguski discovered them.

Roguski in a video announcing the news about 12 amendments being withdrawn, urged freedom-loving Americans to “really get involved” and “deliver a knockout punch” to this globalist power grab.

Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based public interest law firm that defends the religious liberties of Christians, noted that on May 6, the Biden administration finally posted the amendments for public comment, but the time to register expired after 24 hours and was open only to certain minorities.

On March 31, 2020, the U.S. contribution to the WHO was $115.8 million, followed by China at approximately one-half that amount, followed by Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Brazil.

Then in July 2020, President Donald Trump notified Congress and the U.N. that the United States was formally withdrawing from the WHO. Bill Gates quickly increased his contribution from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to $250 million. Gates is the largest private financial contributor to the WHO and second overall behind the United States government.

The WHO was highly instrumental during ….. CONTINUE READING HERE