Candace Owens denied medical treatment as Colorado lab cancels COVID test appointment

Conservative author and commentator Candace Owens was denied medical care in the form of a coronavirus test by a Colorado laboratory because of her political beliefs, Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson reported Thursday.

Owens was sent a letter by Aspen Laboratories' co-founder Suzanna Lee informing her that her "booking" was being cancelled and that she would be "denied service" because of both her aversion to governmental face mask mandates and her analysis of the effectiveness of vaccination shots.

"We cannot support anyone who has pro-actively worked to make this pandemic worse by spreading misinformation, politicizing, and discouraging the wearing of masks and actively dissuading people from receiving life-saving vaccinations," Lee wrote in the letter obtained by "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

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Carlson noted it has not been unusual for Americans of certain political affiliations to be "singled out, punished and denied services" – but that it is likely one of the first such cases of an American citizen being denied medical treatment on that basis.

"This doesn't sound like America," he said, introducing Owens to the program.

Owens said she does not actually want to be tested for coronavirus but that because of sudden governmental restrictions on "bodily autonomy," she has to get routine tests to be able to engage in normal activities. 

"First and foremost, I'd like to not have to get COVID tested, but as you brought up in your previous segment – this is one of the only ways you can maintain your bodily autonomy right now and they're saying if you do not get the vaccination then you need a COVID test to move. If you go to an event you need a negative COVID test; if you want to leave the country or fly," she said.

"So I perpetually have to get tested to prove I'm negative," Owens said, noting she has traveled to three countries and 23 states in the last two years for her work and leisure.

Owens added that Lee's refusal of services begs the question as to the rhetoric of people like her who say it is "a pandemic of the unvaccinated."

"If this is a real deadly virus – if the unvaccinated are the people that are behind this pandemic, people like me … and you really believe this, why would you prevent somebody from complying with local COVID measures and trying to get a test and do the right thing? That doesn't make sense."

Such behavior "defies the science [they] claim is so true," said Owens.

Carlson noted that there are laws prohibiting doctors from refusing medical care to illegal immigrants or people who show up at emergency rooms uninsured – but that somehow an American citizen who has chosen not to get the COVID jab can suddenly be denied the same medical attention.

"Is that legal?" he asked.

"This is not about health anymore, this is about politics," Owens replied. "These people are sadistic, they are sadists. They like to manipulate you, they like control. They don't care about public health. This is a public health crisis she would say 'you know what I hate Candace Owen but of course she is in my town I'm going to give her a test and make sure she doesn't infect anybody else.'"

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Carlson said Owens is essentially being lectured because she doesn't care enough, yet she was denied a coronavirus test she was seeking to take to show she indeed cares about local laws and policies.

"You can't get a COVID test and can't have a credit card," Carlson added. "This is getting really, really dark and I hope Republican members of Congress who still have some power would stand up for their voters."