The health freedom movement made headlines this week as Children’s Health Defence (CHD) drew roughly 1,000 attendees in person and another 1,000 via livestream to its “Moment of Truth” conference last weekend.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance praised US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s work during Wednesday’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Summit, signalling growing recognition for the movement.

“The CHD conference and the MAHA meeting were testimonies to how far the health freedom movement has come in the past 20 years,” CHD’s Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker said.

CHD’s conference in Austin, Texas, featured presentations by US Senators Rand Paul (Republican-Kentucky) and Ron Johnson (Republican-Wisconsin), Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, Dr Dave Weldon – President Donald Trump’s initial pick to lead the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention – and numerous doctors, scientists and health freedom advocates.

“This year’s Moment of Truth meeting commanded a sold-out crowd and was electric with activism, with far greater energy than what is coming out of Washington,” said Dr. Peter McCullough, who spoke on a panel about the “enduring nightmare” of Covid-19 mRNA technology.

Staff turned away several dozen people at the door over the weekend, according to the event’s coordinator.

CHD CEO Mary Holland said the conference explored “many dimensions” of the chronic disease epidemic affecting children and adults worldwide, with vaccine injury – particularly from Covid-19 injections – as a primary theme.

Presenters also highlighted the negative health impacts of electromagnetic radiation and warned that digital IDs could serve as tools for social control.

“The audience was incredible. The energy in the room was amazing,” said Dr Meryl Nass, who spoke on a panel about resisting digital surveillance and control.

Karl Jablonowski, CHD senior research scientist, and Heather Ray, CHD science and research analyst-cum-administrator, said they were impressed with the number of attendees who came together to listen, learn and share their experiences in the health freedom movement.

MAHA Action was the event’s main sponsor. The group’s president, Tony Lyons, spoke during the conference’s dinner event, which was headlined by actress Cheryl Hines – who is married to Kennedy – and comedian and political commentator Russell Brand.

High-profile media outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, sent reporters to the CHD conference. Their articles largely focused on comments by Del Bigtree, founder of the Informed Action Consent Network, and Mark Gorton, co-president of the MAHA Institute, who publicly embraced the labels “anti-vax” and “anti-vaxxer.”

Hooker said he was disappointed that the Times and the Post highlighted “soundbites based on past pejoratives like ‘anti-vaxxer’” while ignoring the “sophistication in science, media and policy within our ranks.”

Still, the media coverage reflected the growing influence of the health freedom movement.

“Leaders of the anti-vaccine movement gathering in Texas over the weekend said they want to change America, not just the party,” Politico reported.

Dr Craig Spencer, a public health professor and emergency medicine physician at Brown University, attended the conference as a “pro-vaccine” clinician. “I saw a movement unapologetically focused on reshaping the public health landscape through legislation,” Spencer wrote in an op-ed in STAT.

STAT also interviewed Holland, running the story under the headline, “How Children’s Health Defence plans to cement its agenda beyond RFK Jr.”

Holland outlined a strategy to influence legislation, courts and the culture. She said of Kennedy, “He’s not doing this for us, but he’s doing this with us.”

CHD.TV Director Polly Tommey said the health freedom movement has never been stronger. “The public needs to know that the people have had enough. The conference strongly showed this,” said Tommey, who has led multiple national bus tours interviewing families whose loved ones were injured or killed by vaccines.

Many conference attendees pointed to the panel of “Spellers” – non-speaking young adults with autism who communicate via letter-boards or keyboards – as a highlight of the conference. The panellists shared their experiences and ambitions.

Grace Falleur said she is majoring in neuroscience and takes pride in her research. Caden Larson said he plans to become the first non-speaker to serve in the US Congress. Alex Gorman said he wants to work for CHD.

Paul Bean, a conference attendee, wrote in an op-ed for the Vermont Daily Chronicle that the spellers’ panel “in particular stuck out.”

Author Charles Eisenstein, who served as Kennedy’s speechwriter during his presidential campaign, moderated the session.

“The non-verbal autistic have a lot to offer society,” he said. “Supporting them is not just a duty of compassion. They have a unique perspective, extraordinary intelligence and powerful empathic gifts that were on display on our panel.”

When Eisenstein asked the spellers what “the rest of us speakers” most needed to know, Gorman replied, “My life was changed because my mother loved me so much that she never stopped trying. That is what we need now: love and courage.”

Eisenstein said he hopes the health freedom movement shifts away from a punishment mentality, including calls to imprison officials who betrayed public trust – perhaps referring to Paul’s conference presentation, “Why Isn’t Tony Fauci in Prison?”

Eisenstein said, “We need something like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Rwanda and South Africa, where the hidden stories are exposed to light, and those who want to come clean can receive amnesty in exchange for transparency.”

Holland noted that Kennedy has also proposed a truth and reconciliation commission as a way to address Covid-19 harms. He discussed the idea in a June interview with Tucker Carlson.

A truth and reconciliation commission would also give victims a platform to tell their stories of abuse. Holland said the model “deserves greater investigation” for addressing Covid-19-related harms.

“Revealing truth and creating broad social acknowledgement of truth are key factors in setting a better course for the future. But prosecution for crimes against humanity and war crimes should never be off the table,” she said.

The US Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond when The Defender asked if Kennedy was planning a truth and reconciliation commission.

During the summit’s fireside chat, Vance praised Kennedy for questioning established science and embracing non-traditional voices in healthcare, The Associated Press reported.

He told Kennedy, “Of all the specific initiatives that you guys have worked on effectively, the most important thing is that your team is willing to ask questions that people in government haven’t been asking in a long time.”

Vance also called the MAHA movement “a critical part of our success in Washington.” The summit was livestreamed, but otherwise off limits to the press, AP reported. James Lyons-Weiler, who attended the CHD conference, highlighted the strength of the MAHA movement.

He said: “Companies that believe that old practices of coddling influence in government are coming back online are in for a surprise. Both Secretary Kennedy and his agency leaders have made it clear: they want advances in medicine that Make America Healthy Again.”

• A Tell Media report / By Suzanne Burdick – a reporter and researcher for The Defender