PHOENIX — Arizonans may get the chance to decide if they're free to refuse vaccines without losing their right to go to school, keep a government job or go to a public park.
Ditto the ability to refuse to wear a mask.
Legislation awaiting a vote by the full House would ask voters to decide whether to put a "right to refuse medical mandates'' in the Arizona Constitution.
More specifically, HCR 2056 says the government cannot mandate, require, coerce or compel any one to accept, receive or administer any medical product or treatment that involves invasion of the body as a condition of employment, education, entry to any public facility or space, or "exercise of any right, privilege or benefit.'' And the same would apply for anyone refusing "affixing any item or article to the body for any reason or purpose.''
The measure cleared the House Health and Human Services Committee last week despite objections from Dr. Zaid Fadul, representing the Maricopa County Medical Society.
"I don't want to be told that I can't go to a park,'' he told lawmakers.
"I don't want to be told that I can't go to a train station or something like that,'' Fadul said. "I don't want somebody in my business. I understand that urge.''
But he said there also needs to be consideration for what happens when there is an emergency.
"I would argue that there is one right now with the measles outbreak occurring all over the country,'' Fadul said. "We lose a tool of containment.''
And he said that, in his opinion, that overrides any trade-off.
"I'm really concerned this bill would prioritize a handful of people's God-given rights at the expense of other people's rights,'' Fadul said.
But Rep. Nick Kupper, who crafted the proposal, said he sees it from a different perspective.
A measure awaiting a vote by the full House would ask voters to decide whether to put a "right to refuse medical mandates'' in the Arizona Constitution.
"The basic principle here is that if you don't have control over your own body, what do you have control over?'' he said.
The Surprise Republican acknowledged data presented by Fadul, which has shown a sharp decline in the number of people getting vaccinated for various diseases. That includes measles.
Kupper, however, said that is the fault of how poorly governments — including in Arizona — handled the COVID outbreak, with conflicting messages about masks, social distancing, closing down restaurants, and a push to get everyone vaccinated even though it turned out that children, in general, were not dying from the virus. That, he said, undermined public confidence in government advice, including getting vaccinated.
But Kupper contends that once people stop getting told — and forced — by the government to believe a certain way, they will then make choices on their own. And he said he believes that, absent government coercion, it actually could lead to an increasing rate of voluntary inoculations.
There is no way of knowing now whether that ultimately would prove to be true.
Arizona already has some of the most liberal laws allowing parents to claim exemptions from having their children vaccinated, including not just for medical and religious reasons, but also to say it is against their personal beliefs, a right that does not exist in most other states.
Fadul, for his part, did agree with Kupper on one point: The COVID situation was mismanaged by the government.
"But it didn't start with COVID,'' he said. Fadul said vaccination rates have been going down since 2010 — a decade before the pandemic — something he said is "very directly in line with social media'' and misinformation put out about both the effectiveness and risks of vaccines.
All of that still leaves the question of whether Arizonans want a constitutional right to refuse medical mandates — and what that would mean.
Consider the case of schools where recent numbers showed only about 89% of Arizona kindergartners were fully vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella. That's down from 93.5% prior to the pandemic.
Given that broad right of parents to refuse to vaccinate their children, there is no mandate. And even during COVID, there were no requirements to get immunized.
What would change with approval of the constitutional amendment Kupper is pushing is whether unvaccinated children could be kept home.
Current Arizona law allows schools, preschools and child care programs to refuse to allow children to attend if the health department declares an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease if parents cannot provide proof of immunity. In fact, that is spelled out on forms where parents can request one of the exemptions now allowed.
That would change if voters approve the measure.
"You can't turn away a kid solely for being unvaccinated,'' Kupper said if his measure became law.
What a school could do, he said, is put the unvaccinated children into a separate area for their classes. And Kupper said schools could "educate the parents'' and "highly suggest that your child not come because they're the most at risk.''
Anyway, he said, the experience with the most recent outbreak — that of measles — says the risk is largely to the unvaccinated.
"That's a personal risk decision, just like when you take your kid on a 'quad' or not,'' Kupper said, referring to an all-terrain vehicle.
"There's a risk of greater harm than when you have your kid in a car,'' he said. "But that's a decision that you make.''
Kupper also noted there was no such rule during COVID, with schools either open to everyone — vaccinated or not — or entirely closed.
The measure also would affect other public buildings and parks.
Fadul said there may come a point where the government needs to close a park to keep unvaccinated kids from gathering. But Kupper said there's no reason for restrictions on what occurs outside.
There are some exceptions in HCR 2056 and the right to refuse medical mandates.
It would allow hospital districts established under state law to require their employees and contractors to comply with health and safety protocols necessary for patient protection, including masks. And anyone in law enforcement custody, including prisons, also would lose the right to refuse medical mandates.
Fadul said all of this — especially providing another reason for people not to get vaccinated — ignores the disease process.
"You're looking at four days before somebody shows symptoms,'' he said of measles.
"If I was to get on a plane and i didn't have symptoms, I could travel around the world multiple times over and stop in a variety of environments in four days and spread it, just like that,'' Fadul said, snapping his fingers.
And he said removing tools from health officials to close off places — especially with a falling vaccination rate — is not the answer.
