Published in Times Union December 19, 2019
On the heels of the recently repealed religious exemption from immunizations, another public health bill has found its way into the New York state Legislature. And, yet again, this legislation would create another requirement that puts at risk the education of students who attend public school.
In June 2019, New York lawmakers passed legislation that removed religious exemptions and a parental opt-out for those who attend public school, in response to the largest measles outbreak in recent state history. The crisis resulted in over 160 confirmed cases statewide.
The proposed legislation currently under consideration (S.298B/A.2912) requires children entering the seventh grade to receive a vaccination for the human papillomavirus (HPV). If passed, the law states “[n]o principal, teacher, owner or person in charge of a school shall permit any child to be admitted to such school, or to attend such school” beyond 14 days after the start of the school year.
Justification for vaccinating against the infection is difficult to debate. As cited in the bill, the Centers for Disease Control and the American Cancer Society link to HPV over 35,000 cases of cancer and 99.7 percent of cervical cancer diagnosed annually. The CDC estimates that 79 million Americans, both men and women, are already infected with HPV.
In Virginia, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia, these alarming statistics were enough to prompt the passage of legislation to mandate immunizations for students like the one under consideration in our state capital. While there is near-universal concern over HPV, there is one main difference in how legislation in these areas deal with the situation and what New York is attempting to require: Our state would be the first to mandate immunization against HPV as a requirement for admission to a public school, without the right to religious exemption or a parental opt-out option.
This emerging tactic of threatening denial of a service parents want — the education of their child — to promote what is to some a controversial plan is becoming more common. Our lawmakers are not being coy when expressing their excitement over this legislative strategy. Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, expressed in a recent Newsday interview that she has been considering this legislation since 2006. “I said, ‘Wow! What can we do?’ And one of the things I learned was we could require it in school.”
Unlike New York’s current mandatory immunization for measles (as well as mumps, diphtheria, rubella, and others), the HPV vaccination is designed as protection against an infection that can only be spread through direct sexual contact. In the past, immunizations for diseases and infections had been required on the sensible premise that a child could possibly contract one of them from some contact with an infected fellow student. The successful repeal of the religious exemption, although controversial, was based on this same premise; religious freedom does not include the liberty to endanger the health and well-being of the community. With the contraction of HPV exclusively through sexual contact, the same standard doesn’t apply.
What’s alarming about the debate in New York is not so much the matter of whether children should receive the vaccination but whether the state should be using the school system as a lever to accomplish a legislative agenda, and removing the religious exemption and parental choice as a means of pursing that agenda uncontested. While recognizing the important role of our state government in promoting public health, it should give us all pause to consider whether withholding the education of even a single child would provide the best vehicle for the implementation of any program. Especially one that would deny a child’s constitutional right to an education.
[Photo] The Constitution of the State of New York. The consitutioncenter.org
Christopher Paolillo 