Dancing with death wasn’t what Bruce Springsteen had in mind when, under pressure from friend and producer Jon Landau and in a fit of frustration, he sat in a hotel room and wrote “Dancing in the Dark” in a single night. It would become his most popular hit and one of the greatest rock-and-roll songs.
But dancing with death is what half of Americans — arguably the stupid half — now does. (A poster on Horsesass.org pithily observed, “Covid started as a virus but mutated into an IQ test.”)
To wit: A Wisconsin state senator opposed to just about everything that keeps people safe from Covid-19 is on a ventilator. Read story here. Meanwhile, a lawyer defending several Capitol rioters and the Kenosha vigilante is at death’s door; that story here. There are plenty more stories like this. Meanwhile, Mississippi has lost over 2,000 nurses to burnout this year; that story here.
America is running out of ICU beds — and patience. A growing number of public entities, colleges, school districts, and businesses are demanding vaccinations. Some recent examples:
PENTAGON: MILITARY PERSONNEL MUST GET SHOTS IMMEDIATELY
DELTA AIRLINES: GET SHOTS OR PAY MORE FOR INSURANCE
MASS. SENATE: GET SHOTS OR GET FIRED
There is a problem here. all of these actions by the government, private employers, and states could lead to the Supreme Court overturning Roe V. Wade. At least one decision by the newest judge is an indication that this is possible.
If states can insist that you and I must get an inoculation based on a case that was really about the guy paying or not paying a five dollar fine in lieu of getting a vaccination for small pox. The court in 1905 was a little less concerned about using substantive level of weighing the case. It used the lowest, and generally that means the state can do what it wants. This decision was later used in Buck V. Bell that led to the involuntary sterilization of 65,000 Americans over 62,000 were woman mostly of color. This case has not been overturned, nor the case allowing the government to force vaccinations though it really was just about a $5 fine. Both cases were used in Roe V. Wade but in arguments that supported that the government could deny women the right to choose to have an abortion or arguable that the government has the power to insist a woman has an abortion.
At some point one or more courts in different circuits may come to different conclusions on the matter forcing the Supremes to step in. Then again the conservatives could have it easy with all the circuits falling into line saying the government can force vaccinations. This will allow conservatives to override Roe V. Wade [reasoning] that on a rational basis government can allow or not allow women to make this choice ….
I think will go down as an unintended consequence of progressives wanting to do a good thing and [not] thinking through all the implications. … Roe V. Wade could well be an unintentional victim of Covid from policies pushed by Progressives. [This comment has been edited.]
Your interpretation of Jacobson v. Massachusetts is incorrect. That case created settled law on the substantive issue of compulsory vaccinations; it wasn’t just about enforcing the fine. Buck v. Bell was a bad decision, but that doesn’t make Jacobson or Roe bad decisions; if they are, it’s because of their own merits. On the question of vaccine mandates, you seem to be lumping government and business together, but they’re different issues. Finally, if the conservative majority overturns Roe v. Wade, they would do so regardless of the pandemic; the vaccination issue won’t drive their decision on abortion.