Maryland mom Hannah Lowe’s young son suffers from a fatal form of childhood muscular dystrophy. So she knows firsthand how outdated federal regulations force Americans with rare diseases to race against the clock to access personalized treatments that could help. “This is time that we do not have,” Hannah says.
But Marylanders desperate for hope can now access the care they need after the Goldwater Institute this week enacted its landmark Right to Try for Individualized Treatments in Maryland—the fourth state where we’ve passed this crucial reform. The law expands Goldwater’s original Right to Try law to potentially lifesaving treatments that are made specifically for them, based on their genetics, and by definition cannot go through U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval processes in a timely manner.
“We are not asking for a handout,” Hannah adds. “We are asking for laws…that would allow medical treatments to be developed faster.”
This movement to put patients first is truly a nonpartisan effort, with legislators working together to solve a problem that is confronting Americans of all backgrounds. Every American deserves the opportunity to try to save their own life. Every American deserves the Right to Try.
Read more here.
It’s happening in Iowa, where Goldwater just abolished the scourge of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) bureaucracies in public higher education, which mandate discrimination in every phase of campus life.
It’s happening in Virginia, where two public universities rejected proposals to force all students to take DEI courses.
It’s happening at the University of North Carolina, which recently diverted $2.3 million away from DEI programs into public safety.
And it’s happening at the University of Wyoming, which announced last week that it’s closing its DEI office.
“Across the country, Americans are notching victories for equal opportunity, freedom of thought, and academic rigor by dismantling DEI programs at public universities,” Goldwater Senior Constitutionalism Fellow Timothy K. Minella writes, explaining how DEI offices “provide the shock troops that promote discriminatory practices in hiring and admissions and conduct mandatory training in DEI concepts.”
And Goldwater is leading the way, tearing down the DEI apparatus in more than 10 states—ranging from Texas to Arizona to Indiana to Idaho.
The battle is far from over. But DEI is on the defensive.
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First, two innocent business owners had their property seized by the federal government under a practice called civil asset forfeiture—even though they didn’t do anything wrong. Then, they were denied due process of law in court when they were trying to defend their rights. Now, they’re appealing to the Supreme Court.
The Goldwater Institute is leading the nation in fighting civil forfeiture, and this week we urged the high court to take this case.
Civil forfeiture grants the government power to seize and profit from individuals’ property without convicting or even charging them with a crime. In this case, when Jacqueline Palacios tried to pay Florida-based business owner Luis Sanchez $9,000 for electronics merchandise, law enforcement seized the money. Officials won’t give it back due to a technicality—a mere misplaced signature on a document—even though neither Sanchez nor Palacios have ever faced allegations of criminal activity. That’s why Goldwater’s brief argues that the very principle of due process demands Sanchez and Palacios have the opportunity to correct the document.
From state courts all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress, Goldwater is defending innocent Americans’ rights. Moreover, Goldwater is successfully advocating for and passing common-sense reforms, like the law we enacted in Arizona that requires the government to obtain a criminal conviction before seizing property. And we’ll keep showing the nation how to stand up to government theft.
Read more here.
