We have seemingly emerged from the mass hysteria relating to a
virtually non-existent threat of a widespread Ebola epidemic in our
country. 14th Amendment liberty rights of some were trampled in the
frenzy. Now we are faced with another, wholly different set of
circumstances and individual rights questions regarding a much more real
outbreak.
This country's first state law requiring
vaccination was enacted over 200 years ago in Massachusetts in response
to the smallpox epidemic.
More than 100 years ago, in
the case of Jacobsen v Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
the US Supreme Court held that states could enact reasonable regulation
regarding mandated vaccinations in order to protect public health and
safety. Liberty for the individual was not absolute in all
circumstances, but was qualified by overriding concern for the common
good, for the welfare of others.
It was left to each state to fashion regulations within these constitutional parameters. Many states enacted legislation which provided exemptions from mandatory vaccination predicated on sincerely held religious beliefs or philosophical opposition.
The question that must be answered in this instance is whether "the very concept of ordered liberty precludes allowing every person to make his or her own standards on matters of conduct in which the society as a whole has important interests" (Wisconsin v Yoder, a 1972 Supreme Court case deciding whether compulsory education beyond 8th grade on certain members of the Amish community was constitutional).
As
measles, a disease whose presence was virtually eradicated through the
widespread use of vaccine reappears, the question posed is whether the
"herd" can be jeopardized by those within its midst.
1 comment:
Since this fear was based on false information, the writer has since been discredited, retraction published, and he has been stripped of his Phd.
Should one be required to have an inoculation? Not if he/she wants to sit next to my child/grandchild. My rights and health must be protected too.
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