Ebola Scare in the US: Destroying Liberty through Forced Quarantine

Ebola and the Police State

Americans coming back from Africa have contracted a deadly virus that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. The nation is gripped with fear as public officials seek to quarantine those infected. The year is 1982 and the virus is HIV.

Thirty-two years later, another virus strikes fear in Americans. On October 24, 2014, nurse Kaci Hickox returned to Newark Liberty International Airport after treating Ebola patients in Africa. New Jersey officials sent Hickox to University Hospital almost immediately. The Hospital locked Hickox into a tent, but she showed no symptoms. After Hickox threatened to sue the Hospital, doctors discharged Hickox on October 27.

Hickox returned home to Maine, but her home state wasn’t ready to receive her with open arms. Despite testing negative for Ebola two times, Maine officials insisted on imposing another quarantine on Hickox. Although the quarantine was only expected to be 21 days, Hickox brought the case into court. The judge ruled in Hickox’s favor. Maine and Hickox came to an arrangement whereby Hickox would be free, but she would be monitored for symptoms until November 10. Now that the deadline has passed without incident, Hickox plans to move out of her home state and away from the publicity that had afflicted her life.

Security in Name Only

Benjamin Franklin once said that “Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” It’s difficult to believe this is the same America where Franklin once lived. Americans have become very willing to sell their freedom for little scraps of security. Whether it’s TSA airport inspections, NSA surveillance, and the militarization of local and state police departments, the United States is oversaturated with government restrictions on movement and privacy.

The question is whether Ebola quarantines are a continuation of this shift in American politics. Hickox has been called selfish for endangering others. The quarantine period is only 21 days; Hickox would be inconvenienced for less than a month. It’s hardly a loss of freedom if one is free before Thanksgiving.

On the other hand, it seems that Hickox is incapable of even infecting others with Ebola. First, Ebola only spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. Being in the same elevator or bus with Hickox, or anyone else with Ebola for that matter, won’t spread Ebola. Second, Hickox was discharged from one hospital without a single symptom. Moreover, Hickox had been tested for Ebola twice, and both times the tests had come back negative. It’s doubtful whether Hickox ever had Ebola. So if she doesn’t have Ebola, we shouldn’t be trying to imprison the woman for any length of time.

Today, it is illegal for employers to discriminate against employees or potential employees because they have HIV or AIDS. States and the federal government did the right thing by passing laws to protect vulnerable patients from fear mongering. However, using equal protection was not the solution. Today, Ebola plays on the fears of Americans and equal protection is insufficient to protect those patients even though there is already protection for a similar disease.

Instead of using equality, the law should give patients due process protection, perhaps due process protection on the same level as criminal due process. Some Ebola or HIV patients might protest being compared to criminals. And yet, when Hickox decided to violate an unreasonable isolation order, many Americans shunned her as a criminal. If Ebola patients are worthy of that type of scorn, they should also be worthy of the same legal protections we give to actual wrongdoers.