Essay Sample about Vaccine Mandates

Justice can be characterized as one getting what they deserve, independent and impractical of outside influence. Injustice would be the exact opposite, an individual not receiving what they deserve because of undue influence. This is a case of grave injustice, a federal regulatory agency overstepping its authority and creating an unconstitutional mandate that applies to over eighty-four million Americans. Vaccine mandates have been a hot-button issue in the United States for over one hundred years. States and local governments were granted the ability to create and implement vaccine mandates in the early nineteen hundreds and have done so on numerous occasions. OSHA, a federal regulatory agency, created a Covid-19 mandate that applied to any business with over one hundred employees about three months ago. The mandate was created with the intent of limiting the spread of Covid-19 through vaccination and testing requirements. Many businesses including the Daily Wire, a major conservative news site, have filed lawsuits against the mandate with the 6th circuit court of appeals, citing serious moral and constitutional concerns. Because keeping the government in check ensures the liberty of the population, the federal government in general and OSHA specifically should refrain from overstepping control, leaving regulatory measures to state governments and private organizations. 

Shifting our thinking about mandates, the federal government’s role, and individual freedom will lay the foundation for positive change and increased justice for all. The mandate is unconstitutional, anti-religious freedom, and unamerican in nature, and therefore, must be withstood by the courts, employees, and religious institutions. One of the most commonly stated arguments used in favor of the mandates is that Federal vaccine mandates are constitutional under the Supreme court case Jacobson v. Massacuttes which ruled that states are granted the authority to impose mandates. This, in fact, isn’t true, Jacobson v. Massacuttes affirms that local vaccine mandates are constitutional because states have the ability to regulate public health under the 10th amendment which asserts “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people (Columbia Encyclopedia, 1).” The major flaw in this argument is that it clearly grants states the right to impose vaccine mandates, but nowhere does it say anything about the Federal government. Furthering this case, the fifth circuit court of appeals recently took up the case and put a temporary block on the new mandate citing  “grave constitutional issues” (Rupin, 1). This is a major step in the right direction but it could just be a temporary block. To prevent this from taking place, people have to band together and stand up to this tyrannical nonsense, and it starts by knowing the laws and constitution. If the population educates themselves on this topic and voice their concerns accordingly, major changes could be made. 

The federal government creating vaccine mandates tramples on the religious freedom of the citizens. 42 U.S. Code § 2000e–2 defines unlawful employment practices as follows, “It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer— (1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or (2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin” (Owens 2-3).  This section of U.S. code clearly states that you can’t discharge an individual because of an “individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin”. There is a large subset of the population that refuses to get the vaccine for religious reasons. Those people have to be reasonably accommodated according to law. And although people can apply for religious exemptions through the government, if they determine someone isn’t worthy of an exemption or someone’s faith is not deep enough, they will be turned away. It is not the government’s place to determine whether someone is religious enough to be exempt, an individual citing religious reasons should be perfectly sufficient. One way to solve this would be to extend the religious exemptions, ensuring everyone who claims a religious exemption gets one. Sure there might be some individuals who use this exemption in the wrong way and may attempt to abuse it, but it would be better to protect the religious freedom of everyone rather than the opinion of a few. 

The federal government covid mandates are unamerican and go directly against our core principles as a nation. Liz Wheeler perfectly encapsulates this when she states “These contradictions, I think, have caused the American public to lose faith in these institutions and to lose faith in the so-called "experts." I, for one, as an American citizen, I'm happy if you want to get the vaccine, that you have the opportunity to get the vaccine, and I'm happy if someone doesn't want to. I respect their right to bodily autonomy, to choose what goes into their body. I don't care. It's none of my business who gets the vaccine” (Wheeler, 1). As a nation, we have valued the importance of individual choice, people have the ability to determine what they do as a career, what people or groups they associate with, and what they put into their bodies. The choices of individuals should be left to such individuals because nobody knows more about what is best for them than themselves. Separately, private businesses have the ability to implement vaccine mandates. Private companies implementing these mandates would be one of the most pro-America actions that companies could take. An article from the American journal of public health outlines they state “Many private-sector employers want their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the virus, reassure employees and customers that the premises are safe, avoid potential liability for transmission of the virus, and advance public health. Private-sector employers are generally free to use any hiring criteria and impose any condition of employment unless doing so violates federal or state law (public employers are subject to the constitutional limits applicable to states) (Rothstein 2). Private companies exercising their right to implement vaccine mandates upholds American values and traditions. Companies know their employee’s needs and the company’s current condition and therefore, are more fit to put a mandate in place.  In order to promulgate a culture that allows companies the choice to execute mandates, the federal government has to be discouraged from putting mandates in place. 

In short, the choices of individuals should be left to the individual, the federal government can encourage but not force the vaccine on unwilling people. To do so goes against the constitution, religious freedom, and our core principles as Americans.