Mask and vaccine mandates are controversial. The basic issue seems to be that the Constitution probably says that children are owned by their parents. Therefore, if parents choose to put at risk the health of their children, their playmates, their teachers and staff, as well as older family members and neighbors, that is their right. The Constitution most likely, somewhere, says that this ownership of children gives parents the right to go against all vaccine science recommendations.
Vaccine mandates go back to Gen. George Washington’s 1777 requirement that his troops get vaccinated against smallpox. Strange that so few of them said, “No way. I’d rather die of the pox than a British bullet.” And where were the anti-vaxxers when doctors Salk and Sabin’s polio vaccines ended the disease that had condemned so many children and adults to paralysis and death?
We have had vaccination mandates for many, many decades. Check out immunize.org/laws, a reputable source. There is both disease-specific and state-specific information. Any parent who really wants to risk their child’s health and life could check out this source and choose which diseases they want to invite into their children’s bodies.
Surely the Constitution allows this. Or does it?
