06/18/2024
WHY ARE DEMOCRATS AFRAID OF ASKING?
JUNE 17, 2024
Rep. Heidi Sampson, a Republican legislator from Maine, in recent months made headlines for her actions on the floor of the Maine House of Representatives, where she presented alarming data on Maine’s “silent epidemic” of excess deaths.
She also raised critical questions about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and warned against the growing influence of international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO).
Excess death data ‘literally earthshaking’
As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, Sampson grew increasingly concerned about the data showing a rise in excess deaths among young and middle-aged adults in Maine.
In March, she decided to take action. Using 2015-2022 Maine all-cause mortality data analyzed by a statistician, she told her colleagues that Maine has since 2020 seen close to an 18% increase in excess deaths among 25- to 64-year-olds.
The spike in excess deaths for 2020 was 6.3% compared to the background rate of about 1.5% from 2015-2020.
Sampson cited the CEO of the One America insurance company, saying he “publicly disclosed that during the third and fourth quarter of 2021, death in people of working age 18 to 64 was 40% higher than it was before the pandemic.”
“This data was compiled by actuaries who are the mathematical experts insurance companies rely upon,” she said. “A 40% increase in deaths is literally earthshaking. Even a 10% increase in excess deaths would have been a 1-in-200-year event.”
She went on to describe the increasingly common phenomenon of “sudden deaths,” citing examples such as death by heart attack, stroke, meningitis, brain aneurysm, pulmonary embolism, anaphylaxis and asthma.
She encouraged lawmaker to do their own searches. “You will find hundreds, even thousands, of examples. A few years ago, this was unheard of.”
Sampson said the newly coined term “sudden death syndrome (SDS)” was a “silent epidemic” that demanded immediate attention and investigation.
She told lawmakers:
“SDS is an umbrella term. It includes biologically based scenarios describing [the] quick onset of unexpected mortality without prior signs of illness. I’ll repeat: without prior signs of illness.
“Autopsies may be non-conclusive due to the lack of obvious abnormalities. They may also be non-conclusive because we may not be asking the right questions.”
Citing what she called the “shocking” nature of the data, Sampson called for the Maine House to investigate.
“If there is even a chance this data is correct, we have the moral obligation to our children to investigate,” she said. “This data represents a flashing red light.”
However, despite her efforts, Maine lawmakers swiftly rejected Sampson’s joint order, along party lines. “The Democrats could not reject this order fast enough,” she told The Defender.
Two Democratic lawmakers, both doctors, approached her after her speech, wanting to know where she got the data and stating they thought the increased deaths were due to suicides.
In other discussions, Sampson said people didn’t want to believe the data. She encouraged them to “trust but verify” and asked why they were not doing their due diligence to investigate.
“They just shrugged their shoulders,” she said.
“We shut the whole damn state down for 6%,” she said. “What are we doing with almost 18%? As a mother and a grandmother, this entire issue deeply concerns me. I want my children and their children to have long, healthy lives. We need to get to the bottom of this.”
