IDAHO: Veto on ‘medical freedom’ bill

Governor Brad Little has vetoed the bill banning Idaho business and schools from requiring a variety of vaccination and public health measures.

His justification (regarding having parents consider schools “medically safe”) left out a number of other important justifications. Let me add some detail that Little left out.

The U.S. military has broad requirements for vaccination of its soldiers and sailors against easily preventable diseases. It would have been awkward to impose this law in contrast with U.S. military practice.

Idaho’s COVID mortality rate was relatively low for a “Red” state with relatively weak public health measures. However this low death rate (higher than both WA and OR) resulted from the fact that ID did not have enough hospital beds, respirators, to treat its own. The excess patients were exported to WA and OR which provided the care that ID could not.

The worst COVID mortality in the U.S. was in Mississippi, approximately double that of Idaho. Mississippi is a Red State entirely surrounded by Red States, so there was nowhere for Mississippi COVID patients to go. And, of course, the current entirely preventable measles outbreaks are concentrated in Red States.

Idaho’s “freedom” is largely subsidized by WA, OR, and other Blue states, which subsidize Idaho’s public health, fight Idaho’s wildfires, and provide reproductive health care to Idaho’s women that Idaho itself will not.

JOHN D. SAHR

Otis Orchards, Wash.