Question

Manifold Restraints: Liberty, Public Health, and the Legacy of Jacobson v Massachusetts, James Colgrove and Ronald Bayer examined the tension between civil liberties and public health in America through Jacobson v Massachusetts and other similar well know cases. Through the case, the Supreme Court gave the “state and local governments to guard the community’s health, welfare, safety, and morals.” Infection control was a major issue in the United States at this time due to urbanization and the debate on balancing civil liberties and public health was on going. Just 15 years earlier, [typhoid] Mary Mallon was forcibly quarantined for spreading the disease to over 50 people. She was twice forcibly quarantined and died after almost 30 years of isolation.

There are many other thought provoking cases of public health initiatives that open the debate of how far our civil liberties extend. Please feel free to react and give your opinion on any topic from the readings or beyond that are of interest to you.

Answer 1

Public health is defined as the science of protecting and improving the health of the population as a whole. This can be achieved by various healthcare programs, legislations, health education and community participation. For example, there are certain sections of people who are against vaccination of common childhood diseases like polio, diphtheria, and measles. There has been an increase in the incidence of measles and diphtheria in recent years because of this reason. Our civil liberty laws extend the right to either administer or deny the vaccination to their children. But, because of this, they are exposing not only their children but also of others to these lethal infections which can be prevented by vaccination in first place. After the disease outbreak, the healthcare cost also increases and there will be waste of resources. So, public health laws should be amended in these circumstances to vaccinate all children compulsorily.