News Round-Up: Kennedy Ends COVID-19 EUA Declarations; U.S. States’ Trans Ban in Women’s Sports Upheld; Germany Censors Migrant-Crime Film
Twice a week, the editorial team of Freedom Research compiles a round-up of news that caught our eye – or what felt like under-reported aspects of news deserving more attention.
Over the past few days, the following topics attracted our attention:
Kennedy Revoked Emergency Use Authorizations for COVID-19 Products
U.S. Supreme Court Backs State Bans on Trans Women in Female Sports
Germany Censored a Film About Crime Committed by Immigrants
Kennedy Revoked Emergency Use Authorizations for COVID-19 Products
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed determinations terminating the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) declarations for drugs, biological products, and medical devices issued during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy determined that the circumstances justifying the emergency authorizations no longer exist. As a result, the declarations will expire after a transition period, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Americans deserve a regulatory system that is transparent, accountable, and rooted in the rule of law,” said Kennedy. “By ending these COVID-19 emergency use authorization declarations, we’re reinforcing public confidence that emergency authorities are temporary and targeted.”
The department granted a 12-month transition period for drugs and biological products, and 180 days for medical devices. During this time, manufacturers, healthcare providers, distributors, and patients must transition from products authorized solely under the COVID-19 EUA declarations to regularly approved products. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will work with manufacturers on appropriate regulatory pathways for products seeking traditional approval, clearance, or licensure.
The COVID-19 EUA declarations were first issued in 2020 by the then-Secretary of Health and Human Services to enable rapid access to medical products during the pandemic. These declarations were extended several times. Most recently, in late 2024, former Secretary Xavier Becerra supported amendments that extended certain liability protections through the end of 2029. At that time, officials noted that although the formal COVID-19 public health emergency had ended in May 2023, the virus remained a potential threat.
Supreme Court Backs State Bans on Trans Women in Female Sports
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that states have the right to ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports. The Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Idaho and West Virginia cases and found that the states did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution when they imposed bans on transgender women’s participation in women’s sports. The court held that the Constitution allows participants in sports to be classified based on their biological sex, according to the New York Post.
At the same time, the court emphasized that transgender athletes must be treated with respect. “Most of the biological female and transgender student-athletes involved in transgender sports disputes across the country are teenagers or in their early twenties,” wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He added that they, too, want to participate in sports and that this desire must be respected. Kavanaugh found that no student-athlete deserves to be excluded or disparaged, whether she is a biological woman or a transgender woman.
Three liberal justices dissented, arguing that while the bans should remain in place, the legal justification for them should be much narrower. In their view, the court should not have ruled broadly on constitutionality and should have accepted the West Virginia plaintiff’s concession that “sex” means “biological sex” as determined at birth.
Rules similar to those in Idaho and West Virginia have been enacted in about 25–27 other states. Under these rules, men (biological males) are prohibited from participating in women’s sports competitions in both public schools and colleges. However, some states, such as California and Connecticut, still permit transgender participation in the opposite sex’s sports. The Supreme Court’s ruling does not automatically overturn those policies; it simply upheld the legality of the bans on a state-by-state basis. Thus, the decision does not impose a nationwide prohibition but leaves the choice to individual states.
Germany Censored a Film About Crime Committed by Immigrants
The German Film Classification Board (FSK) refused to grant an age rating to the new film “Citizen Vigilante,” in which immigrants are portrayed as criminals and those fighting against them as heroes. The board’s refusal to assign any rating effectively left the film undistributable through regular channels in Germany, which amounts to a de facto ban on its commercial release. According to the director, the board’s decision is politically motivated, as reported by European Conservative.
German director Uwe Boll’s action film follows American businessman Michael Sanders (Armie Hammer), who takes the law into his own hands to fight criminal immigrants in Europe - especially those who have brutally attacked women and girls. According to Boll, he drew inspiration for the film from real criminal cases in Germany. In many ways, the film is based on a real gang rape case that took place in Hamburg, in which the juvenile offenders received only suspended sentences. Boll has explained that the film depicts the harsh reality of such cases, where justice is not served for the victims.
Boll clarified that while the film is a work of fiction, its purpose is to address European security issues. In the director’s view, the level of violence in the film is comparable to that in other popular films such as “John Wick” and “The Equalizer,” both of which were released in Germany without issue. Therefore, the director believes that the commission used the need to protect younger audiences from violence merely as a pretext.
According to Boll, the real goal was to suppress a film that addresses crime related to migration and portrays immigrants in a negative light. The commission objected to the film’s portrayal of immigrant criminals and the protagonist’s vigilante justice, which makes him both a wanted criminal and a hero. In the director’s view, the decision is politically motivated and reflects a prevailing trend within German institutions to marginalize viewpoints that question mainstream immigration policy. It is worth noting, however, that what is depicted in the film reflects a statistically documented phenomenon in several European countries.
Following the effective ban in Germany, Elon Musk released the film for 48 hours on the social media platform X. Currently the film is available on platforms such as Prime Video and Apple TV.