http://www.mdtaxes.org/Archives/weyrich/mepha-weyrich-21202.html
Free Congress Commentry
By Sue A. Blevins, M.P.H.
February 12,
2002
Editor's Note: Free
Congress Foundation president Paul M. Weyrich in his 11/19/01 commentary, "Another
Conservative Gone Native," warned NNN readers about the threat that the
proposed Model State Emergency Health Powers Act poses to our civil liberties.
More and more conservatives and other advocates of privacy are starting to
realize that their state legislators are trying to have MEHPA become law in
their state despite having given no serious thought to its consequences.
Recently, Maryland State Senator Andrew Harris of Baltimore County remarked
about his state's own version of the model bill: "As I read it, why
couldn't the governor declare [a catastrophic emergency] for tobacco
smoke?" While MEHPA's proponents dispute that claim, the fact is that
history is littered with examples of how laws with such vague language are
placed on the books for one reason (ostensibly good) only to be used for
another, often damaging our privacy and civil liberties. MEHPA is a model bill
full of bad consequences just waiting to happen. Sue A. Blevins, M.P.H.,
founder and president of the Institute for Health Freedom, explains why she
mistrusts MEHPA in the commentary below.
State legislatures should give serious
thought to how the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act could severely
infringe on the precious individual liberties that are the hallmark of our
nation and its states. Everyone would agree that our federal and state
governments should be defending citizens against bioterrorism. But if you
examine the model bill closely, it goes much, much further than necessary to
perform that important and legitimate government function.
There are two major concerns.
First: The model bill would force individuals to accept vaccines and other
treatments that they might oppose for various reasons. We are often told how
important vaccines are for preventing various diseases. It's true that from a
public-health point of view, the best way to protect all citizens - without
infringing on a minority group's freedom of conscience - is to have an adequate
supply of safe and effective vaccines for those who want them. Then anyone who
is vaccinated with the vaccines should be protected against the relevant
disease. Unvaccinated people (those who reject vaccines for whatever reasons)
will pose no harm to those who have been vaccinated with effective vaccines.
Second: Concerned citizens need to read their state's MEHPA bills very closely.
It is all too likely that MEHPA will infringe on the freedom of conscience of
doctors and other health-care providers. Maryland's draft of the MEHPA stated:
"If a health care practitioner fails to comply with an order, regulation,
or directive...the secretary may request the appropriate licensing board to
take disciplinary action against the health care practitioner... "
Maryland's version of MEHPA said it would impose fines up to $10,000 for each
offense. This provision could force a doctor opposed to abortion to administer
vaccines made from fetal tissue. It would force doctors to perform other
services that he or she might strongly object to. It absolutely infringes on
his or her freedom of conscience - a fundamental freedom in this country.
The coercive provisions of the Model State
Emergency Health Powers Act are sound reasons why the state legislatures should
find a better way to defend against bioterrorism while protecting our
individual freedom - the very freedom that the current war on terror is being
waged to defend.
Sue A. Blevins, M.P.H. is
founder and president of the Institute for Health Freedom which is located in
Washington, D.C.
(www.forhealthfreedom.org)
Contact: Institute for
Health Freedom (202) 429-6610
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