The below letter was submitted to members of the Texas State and
Harris County Medical Society on July 17,2008.

Names have been removed in order to convert it to a sample letter or
template for similar medical Action Alerts in the future:

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Action Alert: Oppose Socialized Medicine in Houston Friday July 18!

Dear [<Texas physician or member of the Texas State
or Harris County Medical Society>],

My name is [<>].

I am writing on behalf of the health care reform organization
FIRM (Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine)
www.WeStandFirm.org
to alert you to a health care policy meeting
promoting [<socialized medicine>]
in the state of [<Texas>]
which has been organized by [<two Texas legislators>]
and is scheduled to take place on [<*today* on Friday, July 18th>].

[<The attached flyer was received from the office of
Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Lee and John Conyers
the meeting is designed to "inform" Houstonians
about the "need" for socialized medicine.>]

The organization FIRM (Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine),
[<co-founded by Ms. Lin Zinser and Dr. Paul Hsieh>],
helped to stop a major push towards
socialized medicine in Colorado last year.

FIRM was successful in stopping Colorado's attempt at state-
run "universal care" in large part because
they learned about our opponents' plans *early*
and started speaking out *promptly*
which helped them to set the terms of the debate
and to cast the debate in terms of moral fundamentals
- rather than merely in terms of pragmatic economic terms.

Please pass along this information to
[<your membership at the state and county medical society level>]
so that [<Texas physicians opposed to socialized medicine>]
can present a united front
and make their voices heard
[<in opposition to socialized medicine in their state
from the outset.>]

Here is the information on the meeting:

[<"Examination of the Healthcare crisis in America and offering
Universal Healthcare as the solution"
with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
and Congressman John Conyers, Jr.

Friday, July 18, 2008 from 1:30 – 3:30pm

The John P. McGovern Theater, The Health Museum
1515 Hermann Drive, Houston, TX>]

[<I've attached the flyer to this e-mail.>]

Please feel free to forward this
to anyone else who might be interested.


If any of you need references
(either for quick self-education or possibly
to print out and distribute to the public),
I can suggest:

[<Add articles or links specifically relevant to issue and state.>]

"Health Care is Not A Right"
by Leonard Peikoff
<http://www.westandfirm.org/Peikoff-01.html>

"Ted Kennedy vs. Universal Healthcare: A Double Irony" by Richard
Parker, MD (ER doctor from Texas)
<http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=5201>

"The Right Vision of Health Care"
by Yaron Brook
<http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/01/08/health-republican-plans-
oped-cx_ybr_0108health.html>

"FAQ on Free Market Health Insurance"
by Paul Hsieh, MD
<http://www.westandfirm.org/blog/2008/05/faq-on-free-market-health-
insurance.html>

"Moral Health Care Vs. 'Universal Health Care'"
by Lin Zinser, JD and Hsieh, MD
<http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2007-winter/moral-vs-
universal-health-care.asp>


If you wish references on how universal health care/ socialized
medicine "works" in other countries,
I can suggest the following two,
with the caveat that they
are fairly useful for concrete factual information,
but that they don't go all the way
in making the full moral argument for free market medicine:

"The Grass Is Not Always Greener: A Look at National Health Care
Systems Around the World"
Michael Tanner, March 18, 2008,
Cato Institute Policy Analysis no. 613.
<http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9272>

"Health Care in a Free Society:
Rebutting the Myths of National Health
Insurance"
John Goodman, January 27, 2005, Cato Institute Policy Analysis no.
532.
<http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3627>


I hope you find this information helpful.
[<I apologize for the short notice, but FIRM only learned about this
upcoming event yesterday.>]

Please feel free to contact [<>] by email for any questions.

Best Regards,

[<>]

Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine:
http://www.WeStandFIRM.org