Glenn Melancon/Contributing writer
In the 1980s Jack Kevorkian made headlines by advocating for assisted suicide. Kevorkian, a medical doctor, argued that terminally ill patients had the right to die with dignity. When the state of Michigan discovered that he had helped his patients die, he lost his medical license, and prosecutors they put him on trial.
Prosecutors dropped the charges because he committed no crime. His attorneys presented enough evidence to show that Kevorkian only provided the means to commit suicide. The dead actually made the decision and triggered the devices.
Several years later, however, Kevorkian faced a jury. This time the circumstances were different. Kevorkian, no longer a doctor, injected a deadly drug into a man with Lou Gehrig’s disease. The man had asked for the drug, but Kevorkian delivered it.
The Kevorkian case illustrates an important aspect of American law. Our legal system allows an individual to participate in a large number of self-harming behaviors. Adults in particular can drink and smoke, or even refuse medication.
We do draw the line, however, at harming others. We tell people that they can’t drink and drive. We tell people that they can’t smoke in public spaces. We tell parents they must allow a blood transfusion for a child. We don’t allow individuals the right to use liberty as excuse for harming others.
This principle is not a novel concept. The 1800 BC Law Code of Hammurabi begins “Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak.”
Governments enact laws to stop us from hurting one another. As my dad used to say, “Your freedom ends at my nose.”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise then, that I have never questioned vaccine mandates. Growing up, vaccines were simply part of life. Every time we moved from one military base to another, we needed to show an updated vaccine card.
I never heard once the false claim that I had a right to spread a contagious disease. Even as a child, I knew that the United States government promoted vaccines around the world. Vaccines save lives.
Now, I watch in disgust as politicians and talk show hosts claim the right to spread death. If they were only killing themselves, we would have no authority to stop them, but Covid 19 is not like cancer or Lou Gehrig’s disease. It kills others.
Covid politicians are playing Dr. Death with the public. We need vaccine mandates. We reduced drunk driving. We reduced second hand smoke. We have the ability to reduce the impact of Covid. It is time to return to our lives.