The First Amendment protects against government interference with free speech and forbids any official establishment of religion. You'll find no stronger advocates of those sentiments than us. A nation in which minorities are not protected is not one we want to live in.
But the United States was also founded on the principle of e pluribus unum. And when it comes to "out of many, one," there are times when the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few — or the one. (Wow, we just started quoting "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," didn't we? Sorry!)
Our point is that the New York state legislature and Governor Cuomo did the right thing yesterday when they ended the religious exemption to vaccination. It was the proper response to a public health emergency: More than 500 measles cases in New York City alone, fueled by anti-vaxxers and fundamentalist nutcases who refuse to accept science, even when their clergy tell them to.
Measles, which is highly contagious, can have very serious, even fatal, complications. We cats don't have kittens, but if we did, we would vaccinate them — and we'd insist that they go to school only with other vaccinated kittens. In fact, it's such a no-brainer that we can't believe it's even up for discussion. But that's how ridiculous things have gotten. We cats can't wait for sanity to return to America, and we HISS.
No comments:
Post a Comment