On Vaccine Mandates

 

The government’s authority to mandate vaccinations follows exactly the same logic as the government’s authority to set speed limits on public roads. You might say this is a matter of freedom, that you have a right to go as fast as you like. You might be willing to take on the personal risks of high speeds. You might even argue that going fast is not inherently criminal. It is, however, the government’s job to protect its citizens from all threats foreign and domestic. And exercising your “freedom,” your “right to go fast” puts not just you but everyone else on the road in obvious, mortal danger. For this reason very few people question the authority of the government to regulate such behavior on public roads. Vaccines are like speed limits. You may believe you have the right to decide whether you wish to take the risk of remaining unvaccinated. Refusing medicine is not an inherently criminal act. But your refusal puts not just yourself but everyone you come into contact with in obvious, mortal danger. The government therefore has the authority to tell you you must get the vaccine or stay out of pubic spaces. Businesses have the right to tell you you have to be vaccinated or stay out of their own private spaces. This is a public good. This is at the heart of the mission of good government, and is in fact included in the our government’s mission statement, the preamble to the Constitution, which includes the directive: “to promote the general welfare.”