Challenging illegal taxes and government censorship in court. Backing free-market housing reforms. Breaking down barriers to work. Standing up for the rights of parents to choose the schools—public, private or even homeschool—that work best for their kids.
These are just a handful of ways the Goldwater Institute and its allies are blazing trails for liberty and defending freedom for all Americans from coast to coast.
On Friday, champions of liberty from across the country descended on the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix for the Goldwater Institute’s annual Freedom Gala, where we celebrated these recent victories and many more and charted a course for safeguarding American freedoms for years to come.
“I want to thank the Goldwater Institute for passing laws across the nation and fighting in courtrooms across the country. Your reach is far and your reach is impactful,” said Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, the gala’s keynote speaker.
As one of the most prominent fighters for common-sense governance and parents’ rights, Governor Youngkin has been blazing trails for liberty not only in Virginia but nationwide. Since taking office as the 74th governor of Virginia in 2022, Governor Youngkin has championed choice and innovation in education and spurred waves of business investment and job growth in his state. He’s lowered the cost of living for Virginians by delivering $9 billion in tax relief for families while slashing government regulations that burden residents, workers, and businesses and serve as roadblocks to freedom.
Clearing regulatory roadblocks has similarly become a lifelong mission for Elijah Stacy, a true trailblazer for liberty. Elijah is fighting for the freedom of patients young and old to choose the medical treatments that best serve their needs—even if those treatments haven’t yet cleared the federal government’s regulatory labyrinth.
The 24-year-old who suffers from a fatal and incurable disease, is a tireless advocate for Goldwater’s Right to Try for Individualized Treatments Act (Right to Try 2.0), a landmark state-level reform that creates a pathway for Americans to access treatments that haven’t yet received Food and Drug Administration approval. For his inspiring efforts, Elijah is the recipient of this year’s Goldwater Institute Freedom Award.
Elijah was only 6 when he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare genetic, progressive muscle-wasting disease with no cure. When he was 15 he founded the Destroy Duchenne nonprofit. He’s since gone on to become a bestselling author, public speaker, and leader in fighting Duchenne. Elijah is now helping to lead the fight to pass Right to Try 2.0 in statehouses around the country.
“Our Founding Fathers would be so proud to see the country they built has lead to the free market conditions need to let medical science flourish, but they would be so disappointed to see big government regulations stifle getting those same innovations to we the patients,” Elijah Stacy says.
So far, 16 states have enacted legislation modeled after the reform, which builds upon the Goldwater Institute’s original Right to Try Act.
The original act, which was passed in 41 states before it was signed into federal law in 2018, allows terminally ill patients to access investigational treatments that have completed Phase I clinical trials but are not yet approved by the FDA. Right to Try 2.0 furthers health freedom by recognizing that the latest innovations in medicine are made specifically for each patient based on their genetics and therefore cannot move quickly through the FDA’s outdated regulatory process.
“Elijah’s journey is not defined by the obstacles he has faced, but by the unwavering determination with which he has overcome them, time and again,” said Goldwater Institute Executive Vice President Christina Sandefur. “Elijah’s work is a powerful reminder that freedom in healthcare—and in life—means the courage to hope, even when hope seems impossible.”
To the Goldwater Institute and its allies, freedom is not just a buzzword or a slogan. Rather, it is “the essential condition for all human flourishing and progress,” said Goldwater Vice President of Litigation Jon Riches,
That includes the freedom for Americans to work in a profession of their choice without government interference. It’s the freedom to speak critically of government officials without fear of reprisal or retribution. It’s the freedom from illegal race-based discrimination imposed by radical “diversity, equity, and inclusion” ideologues.
“The Goldwater Institute will always defend Americans against government overreach,” Goldwater President and CEO Victor Riches said.
Attendees of this year’s Freedom Gala were also treated to a special performance by trailblazing comic and master impressionist Frank Caliendo.
While it is important to recognize our wins, threats to liberty are never ending—overreaching governments and busybody bureaucrats will always find new ways to squelch freedom and empower themselves. That’s why the Goldwater Institute will never stop fighting for freedom and blazing trails for liberty in courtrooms, capitals, and classrooms from coast to coast.
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