Old North News

Edmund Burke famously quipped, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

In 2021, Yulia Hicks – a young girl from Ukraine – was adopted by Lee and Chrissy Hicks. Keenly aware their daughter had a rare kidney condition – Senior Loken Syndrome – which would eventually require a transplant, they opened their hearts and their home to her.  

The Yulia spent almost two years under the care of Duke University Medical Center as Yulia underwent daily kidney dialysis.  

After this emotional roller coaster ride, Duke University Medical Center and Dr. Eileen Chambers denied Yulia’s access to a kidney transplant, based solely on her parents’ decision to not give her the COVID vaccine.

Medical professionals who have taken the solemn Hippocratic oath - Primum non nocere (first do no harm) – should not have jeopardized Yulia’s life. Indeed, no medical professional should be playing politics and deeming the worthiness of a patient’s life based on vaccine decisions. Sadly, inebriated by the power unrightfully granted to them by the National Institutes of Health during the Covid 19 pandemic, many leaders within first-rate university medical centers continue to behave like medical tyrants.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

State Representative Celeste Cairns, a newcomer to the North Carolina legislature, was willing to confront Duke University Hospital – a behemoth in the region – because it is the right thing to do. Being the wife of a retired Green Beret and the mother of a police officer and an Army officer, she understood all too well the need to answer the call of duty. And she felt compelled to defend Yulia and her family. Lee and Chrissy Hicks were also patriots who served our country for a combined number of 32 years in the Army.

During the period between her election and swearing in, Representative Cairns heard Yulia's story and the discrimination that the Hicks family had endured in North Carolina. She decided that this would be her first piece of legislation. Meanwhile, Senator Jim Perry, the Majority Whip of the North Carolina Senate who shares a portion of Rep Cairns' District, was of the same mind. These two legislators partnered together to draft the bill that they named "Yulia's Law" (H 586 / S644).

Once filed, the work began to get the bill passed in the House. Rep. Cairns gives great credit to three other more senior representatives who were willing to join her as primary sponsors of the legislation: House Speaker Pro-Temp Stevens (an attorney), House Deputy Majority Whip Baker (a medical doctor), Rep. McDowell White (a nurse). She believes their professional and legislative experience added gravitas and real credibility to her efforts in putting an end to medical tyranny.

If one thinks this issue is partisan, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, once the bill was introduced it took less than 30 days for Yulia’s law to pass the House, on May 2nd, on a vote of 91-25 with 20 Democrats voting in favor.

That bill has since been sitting in the Senate waiting to be heard in the Rules and Operations Committee. Patriots in the North Carolina legislature can take the opportunity to finish this great work and send a message to medical tyrants across the nation.

Other states are watching and eager to follow North Carolina’s lead. The American Constitutional Rights Union (ACRU) has made Yulia’s law one of the model bills they provide as part of their Live Free Local initiative (www.livefreelocal.org). Live Free Local encourages citizens to advance freedom and liberty at the city, county, and state levels.  ACRU’s Executive Director LTC Allen West, who interviewed the the Hicks for ACRU’s LiveFreeTV, encourages the North Carolina legislature to be a leader in medical freedom.

The good news is that the Hicks family found ethical and compassionate care for Yulia at East Carolina University Hospital, where she successfully received a transplant in May of 2023. She has completely recovered from her surgery and is a member of a swim team. 

Kweku Boafo is the director of Strategic Outreach for the American Constitutional Rights Union (www.theacru.org) and ACRU Action Fund.