Although only a quarter of the year has passed, measles cases in the United States have already exceeded the amount for 2023, according to The New York Times. Most of these cases have occurred in unvaccinated travelers, who have oftentimes brought the disease into the US from abroad. However, these are not isolated cases; many of them have resulted in transmission of the virus beyond the initial case. Earlier this year, seven students at a Florida elementary school in Broward County contracted measles.
Though it has not been specified in all cases of measles infection, it is not a stretch of the imagination to assume that many of the people infected were unvaccinated. Anti-vaccination movements have existed for a long time, but the early 2000s brought a resurgence of anti-vaccination efforts, spurred on by the assertion that specific vaccines could be responsible for health problems. In particular, the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is falsely believed to be one of the causative agents of autism in children. While this claim has been debunked countless times, this belief persists across many anti-vaccination groups, and it is possible that this belief has led to lower rates of MMR vaccination across the US. The CDC reports that the rate of MMR vaccination in kindergarteners across the US has dipped from 95.2 percent to 93.1 percent between the 2019-2020 school year and the 2022-2023 school year, which is below the threshold required for herd immunity. Herd immunity occurs when a certain percentage of the population is vaccinated against a disease and it becomes especially difficult for that disease to be spread throughout a community due to the high prevalence of vaccination. This concept is crucial for protecting members of the community who cannot get vaccinated against diseases for medical reasons, such as allergies to the components used to create the vaccine, or issues with weakened immune systems.
In times like these, when national health is under serious threat, state governments have taken different approaches to handling local outbreaks of measles. One notable outlier is Florida. Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who was, until recently, one of the Republican contenders for the 2024 presidential election. Throughout both his tenure as governor and his campaign for the presidency, DeSantis has upheld a supposed commitment to personal freedoms and bodily autonomy when it comes to matters of public health and vaccination. A press release from DeSantis during the measles outbreak earlier this year noted: “Once again, Florida has shown that good public health policy includes personal responsibility and parents’ rights.” This sounds good in theory, but in practice, DeSantis’ words and actions have failed to endorse and support vaccination as a safe and effective method of preventing infection and the spread of various diseases, including measles.
The reasoning for this general approach to public health is because the Republican Party has long believed itself to be a champion of personal freedoms and protection from federal oversight and intervention. Thus, it aligns with the broader goals of Republicans for DeSantis to endorse “bodily autonomy” and “personal choice” in the realm of public health and vaccination. This is echoed by the people who work in DeSantis’ government, including State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who has stated that it should be left up to parents whether they want to send their unvaccinated children to school or not, despite the fact that most medical and public health advice suggests otherwise.
This example would make one believe that the Republican Party is intent on promoting personal freedoms and choice when it comes to decisions regarding bodily autonomy. However, this is far from the case regarding issues of abortion and women’s health.
To continue with Florida as a case study of Republican attitudes and policymaking, it has among some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. On Monday, April 1, the state Supreme Court allowed a six-week abortion ban to take effect, according to NBC News. This effectively bans abortion in the state, given the fact that most women do not even know that they are pregnant six weeks into their pregnancy.
This begs the questions: Why are women not granted the same bodily autonomy as those who decide not to vaccinate? Why is it that children are allowed to spread deadly, communicable diseases in the name of “personal freedom,” while adult women are barred from making decisions about their own bodies and health?
This is just one example of the hypocrisy that runs deep within the Republican Party. Now that we are once again in an election year, one where it is not unlikely that the Republican frontrunner will take the presidency, it is important that we consider public health issues as we decide who to vote for, both on a local and a national level. It is unconscionable that Republicans like DeSantis allow vulnerable people to die from easily preventable diseases while limiting women’s reproductive freedoms. It is clear that DeSantis and Republican policies do not have the best interests of the public in mind. Instead, they allow personal religious beliefs to color their policies and laws, to the point where the lines between state and religion become muddy and barely perceptible.
These are not issues that are removed from you or me. Spreading infectious diseases anywhere may affect any of us. Though I am not personally allergic to vaccines or immunocompromised, I know and love people who are, and it does not make any sense to me that anyone, given the choice, would not vaccinate, knowing rationally that it is the safer and healthier choice for everyone involved. I am also a woman, and it terrifies me that there is a significant proportion of the country that believes that I should have no control over my own future and my own health. While I have been privileged throughout my life to live in places that protect my reproductive freedom, this is certainly not the case for women throughout the US, and it pains me that women are subjected to such harsh restrictions across the country.
Thus I ask that as we enter voting booths throughout the rest of the year, we carefully consider what is at stake. Voting should not be a single-issue endeavor, and there are certainly other considerations that must be taken into account when voting, but I ask that we at least consider the health and safety of our communities as we choose the next leaders of this country.