The Right to Medical Privacy

As you may have heard, I do not believe that the “religious exemption” is going to hold water when it comes to refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccination*. Consequently, the question I have tried to find an answer to is simply what is a better argument against the vaccine mandate?

As a libertarian leaning Conservative, I like the position of privacy. What is between myself and my medical professional is between myself and my medical professional. It is literally none of your business, and it is certainly not the business of government (at any level). To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, how does my vaccination status in any way effect you? If you want the shot, get it. Unless the government is lying about the efficacy and effectiveness of the vaccine, my status cannot possibly effect you.

The problem with this argument is that it relies on several Supreme Court rulings which in turn, are grounded in some rather questionable Constitutional logic. Even more concerning is that the case that finally underpins the idea of medical privacy is facing multiple challenges in this years Supreme Court term.

Depending on how the High Court rules on those cases, it is conceivable that medical privacy could go the way of the Plessy ruling…