Is Mandatory Vaccination Legal in Time of Epidemic?
https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/mandatory-vaccination-legal-time-epidemic/2006-04
In 1905 the Supreme Court addressed mandatory vaccinations in regard to smallpox in Jacobson v Massachusetts [2]. There the Court ruled that the police power of a state absolutely included reasonable regulations established by legislature to protect public health and safety [2]. Such regulations do not violate the 14th Amendment right to liberty because they fall within the many restraints to which every person is necessarily subjected for the common good [3]. Real liberty for all cannot exist if each individual is allowed to act without regard to the injury that his or her actions might cause others; liberty is constrained by law. The Court went on to determine in Jacobson that a state may require vaccination if the board of health deems it necessary for public health or safety [4].
When SARS shows up in Canada, Illinois immediately creates a mandatory vaccine for all those who are currently in China or certain areas of Canada, or all those who plan to go there in the next few years.
In this case the Jacobson Court’s ruling has stood—not allowing a single individual to refuse vaccination while he or she remains within the general population on the grounds that to make such an exception would strip the legislative branch of its function to care for the public health and safety when threatened by epidemic disease [8].
This ruling prevails despite occasional injurious results from vaccinations and the impossibility of determining whether a particular person can be safely vaccinated. The only exception to a mandatory vaccination is an offer of apparent or reasonably certain proof to the state’s board of health that the vaccination would seriously impair health or probably cause death [8].
Consequently, our student, Joseph, does not have a valid argument against the mandatory vaccination. It is established that vaccination to prevent an epidemic is well within the police powers of Illinois. Furthermore, he does not have a 14th Amendment liberty or due process argument because the vaccination is for the health and welfare of the state. Lastly, even if Joseph had a religious objection, it would most likely be dismissed because a compelling state interest may abridge religious freedom [9].