Elected officials, bureaucrats, and big pharma-backed special interests probably thought the backlash to their authoritarian lockdowns and medical interventions would have been resolved by now.
It hasn’t.
Nearing four years since their lab-grown virus power grab, the voices of critics who were silenced, fired, and defamed are growing in prominence, and the public is becoming more, not less, agitated with time.
Look no further than the continued ascendancy of Texas’ own Dr. Mary Talley Bowden.
A key figure in the post-2020 medical liberty movement, Texas Scorecard has extensively covered Bowden’s ongoing fight with the Texas Medical Board. After successfully treating patients with monoclonal antibodies and ivermectin during the pandemic, the medical community turned on Bowden.
Complaints were filed with the Texas Medical Board and they’ve been working through an administrative and legal gauntlet ever since.
Earlier this week, Bowden reported that the TMB is asking for an extension to find another expert after theirs dropped out, reportedly for health reasons. According to the TMB, they need a seven-month continuance.
This delay represents a pattern with the state’s harassment of Bowden. Earlier this year, an administrative hearing was set only to be postponed at the eleventh hour.
Bowden’s saga is another example of the process serving as the punishment, and to some extent, it has worked. Bowden has been public about how the costs to defend herself have mounted to the point of maxing out her insurance policy’s defense fund. At one point this summer, the costs became so great that she had to let her attorneys go.
However, her lawyers returned shortly after to work her case pro bono.
After the latest delay was announced, State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park) said the TMB should stop wasting taxpayer money and drop its case against Bowden. The post also contained a thinly veiled threat that the session is only 147 days away.
Cain follows fellow State Reps. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) and Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) in their vocal support for Bowden and her cause.
It’s unclear how Cain’s threat against the TMB will go anywhere in the Texas House, where Cain serves, if there isn’t a meaningful turnover in leadership. Vaccine choice advocates in Texas, though they enjoyed some success during the past legislative session, had their more expansive efforts blocked by the Texas House.
The House is widely viewed as a chamber captured by the lobby, including the Texas Medical Association. The group routinely advocates for measures that oppose the majority of Texans. Conversely, it lobbies and advocates publicly against measures that Texans want to see become law.
After posting a story about the TMA on social media, Bowden was told by the association that she was not allowed to post content that did not align with the TMA’s social media content policy. The article detailed links between the TMA and Democrat machinery, which consistently enjoys an outsized power level in the House. This setup has significantly weakened the current Speaker Dade Phelan.
TMA’s actions aren’t those of a group that enjoys a sense of security, not unlike those of other historically powerful groups in Austin that are declining in stature and power.
Not only are Texas lawmakers paying attention, but Dr. Bowden also enjoys the attention of at least one presidential campaign, that of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan. The latter posted to X in April of this year, elevating Bowden as a source for helpful vaccine insights and resources.
As the energy around Bowden continues to increase, expect the entrenched powers to continue flailing, and watch the demands for medical freedom continue to grow.