People who are refusing to be vaccinated have said that they have a “right” to refuse, and the government has no right to force them. They cite the 14th Amendment Section One to back up their argument because it states “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”
There are a number of examples in the past where the “state” or the “government” has forced us to change our behavior and most everyone complied. If you buy a car, it has seat belts and the law requires you to wear them. Do you have a right to refuse to wear a seat belt? You can refuse, but you can also be arrested or fined for not complying. Schools have long required that children have a certain number of vaccinations before they can enter school. Why? Because children who are not vaccinated against measles, for example, can endanger the health of others . Whose rights prevail? The few or the many?
Does the Constitution give you the right to refuse vaccination? In several cases It does not.
In 1905 the U.S. Supreme Court heard a similar case related to smallpox.
Facts of the case
A Massachusetts law (Jacobson v. Massachusetts) allowed cities to require residents to be vaccinated against smallpox. Justice John Marshall Harlan explained that personal liberties might be suspended if the “common good” of the community was of paramount importance. Cambridge adopted such an ordinance, with some exceptions. Jacobson refused to comply with the requirement and was fined five dollars.
Question
Did the mandatory vaccination law violate Jacobson’s Fourteenth Amendment right to liberty?
Conclusion
The Court held that the law was a legitimate exercise of the state’s police power to protect the public health and safety of its citizens. Local boards of health determined when mandatory vaccinations were needed, thus making the requirement neither unreasonable nor arbitrarily imposed.
Since 1905, several other court cases in 1922 and 1944 have addressed the right of the individual to endanger the health of the community, citing that enforcing the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment does not single out any group of individuals unfairly. The 1944 case Prince v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts ruled that the state may require vaccination regardless of a parent’s religious objection because “the right to practice religion freely does not include liberty to expose the community or the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill health or death.”
These cases authorized states to make these decisions, so not surprisingly, the various states have implemented these rules in different ways. However, all 50 states now require students to be vaccinated before enrolling in school, although there are medical and religious exemptions of various types.
Is it unreasonable or arbitrary to require citizens to be vaccinated? Because there is precedence from the courts that addresses these public health issues and gives states the power to enforce public safety, some will say that the issue is settled in favor of requiring vaccines. But the issue is far from settled in the court of public opinion. No doubt there will be court challenges as we go forward.
In the meantime if you believe that the state or the federal government has the authority to require vaccinations, you have some case law on your side. It will probably not persuade anyone who has the opposite view!
Excellent! And you’re right – the anti-folks will never accept just plain logic. I’m related to some I’m sorry to say.
The issue will no doubt go to the courts, and perhaps some clarity can come from those cases.
This explanation makes more sense than referring to the Constitution and protecting communities is a fundamental right that should preclude stupidity.
Thanks for the comment, Gordy. It’s hard to understand this lack of concern for your own community!
This is right on! If you follow the logic of the anti-vaxers, they should all be pro-choice, too. Hmmmm. Can’t force someone to continue a pregnancy.
I liken not getting vax’d to driving drunk and running into a school bus, killing yourself and injuring many children. Without a vax, you may quite well die and spread the virus to unvaccinated children under 12.
Just sayin’
This refusal to admit your impact on others is really incomprehensible to me too.