Alan Dershowitz on whether receiving a coronavirus vaccine be mandated
Constitutionally, it is not a debatable issue, says Alan Dershowitz, retired Harvard Law School professor and author of 'Guilt By Accusation.'
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Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz joined "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Wednesday to discuss the constitutionality of forcing members of the public to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, should a vaccine become available.
Host Tucker Carlson began the segment by acknowledging the argument that people "don't have a right to endanger other people, your right to punch ends at the tip of my nose" before asking Dershowitz whether "the government has a right to endanger" people who may have an adverse reaction to a vaccine by forcing them to take it.
"The Supreme Court has said yes, and if the case came to the Supreme Court today, they would say yes, it would either be 9-0 or 8-1," Dershowitz responded. "It is not a debatable issue constitutionally. Look, they have a right to draft you and put your life in danger to help the country. The police power of the state is very considerable."
Dershowitz added that he agrees with the "moral argument" that no one should be subject to vaccine that has not been fully vetted on the chance it could help other people and noted that he wouldn't want people to submit to a vaccine unless it is proven safe.
"If the vaccine is extremely safe, then the state does have the right to tell you to take it," he said. "Vaccines work on a theory of mass inoculation. You're not taking it to help yourself.
"If there were a vaccine developed for cancer or a heart condition," Dershowitz added," obviously you and I would have a right to say no, we have the right to die."
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The prominent civil libertarian said people who object to being vaccinated may instead be forced to submit to further quarantine enforcement before emphasizing that no one has a right to "circulate in society without being vaccinated."
"I don't believe you have a right to be Typhoid Mary and spread it."
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