Father Pfleger's audacity
via ST,
Marking World AIDS Day, the Rev. Michael Pfleger on Friday proposed a drastic measure to help stem the incidence of the disease among young people in Illinois.Wonder what the reaction would be if a Conservative Evangelical suggested this?
The activist pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church wants mandatory HIV testing of every high school student in Illinois during their junior year of high school.
Pfleger said the state already requires grammar school children to be immunized against various diseases if they want to attend school, so he sees no reason why Illinois can not legally add HIV testing as another condition for attending school.
11 comments:
Good idea. Better start testing every year of high school. Also test for a propensity to want to wear explosive charges.
And while were out there handing out mandatory testing, how about mandatory testing all members of the clergy every year, a lie detector, the questions would be, 1 - Do you/have you ever stolen from the collection plate, 2 - Have you ever used your position for your own sexual gratification, that would put you at odds with your faiths beliefs and/or the law of the land?
I bet if George Bush was ordering DNA testing for Homeland secuirty everyone would be supporting this.
Shalom,
--- Leland Milton Goldblatt
I'll tackle the idea. It's bad. Who owns your blood, the government or you? Government should have absolutely NO authority to force anyone to submit to AIDS testing against their will. Voluntary testing of AIDS, sure, why not. Mandatory? No.
What is the penalty for refusing? Will they suspend students for failing to hand over their blood? Will they arrest and jail their parents? The ONLY way to enforce mandatory AIDS testing in high schools is to hold a gun to their heads and tell them if they don't completely comply they or their parents will lose their freedom and be locked in cage, and if they resist being locked in a cage for declining to take an AIDS test, they will be killed resisting that arrest. What message about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness does that send to our children?
Hey ... idiots...
You are vaccinated for *highly contagious* diseases before going to school. Those diseases that, when carried, are a high risk for spreading to others just by the act of going to school, sitting in a classroom, etc.
School used to be breeding grounds for TB, measles, mumps, etc. All contagious through the air or skin.
You can't be THAT ignorant still to think you can contract HIV just by going to school with someone - by sitting next to them in a classroom, or sharing a locker with them. Please, Please, Please tell me this is not 1982.
This is apples and oranges. I understand Fr. Pfleger wants to do something about the spread of hiv/AIDS, but this is misguided.
Actually, I do own the public schools AND the government, both. Or, at least, I should along with all other free individuals.
If the penalty is not getting to go to government school, are you saying it is more important for a 16 year old to submit to a mandatory AIDS test than their education is?
Do you really think there is a big problem with 16 and 17 year olds contracting and spreading AIDS? Are high school juniors any different from anyone else in that regard? Why not mandate ALL people in the US submit to AIDS tests every three months? Why not mandate Herpes tests or Mono tests or crabs tests or every comnunicable disease tests, including the flu that kills people?
From an efficient use of government resoucres (our hard earned money) standpoint, this is a waste of money. From a prevention of the spread of the disease standpoint, this is a waste of money. From a freedom and you own your own body standpoint, this is an infringement on your rights and a waste of money.
Hippies weren't libertarians, they were more likely socialists, thus the last election results we saw. Do I think everyone should have an AIDS test? Absolutely. Do I think there should be programs to encourage and fund AIDS tests for teens that HAVE potentially been exposed to AIDS? Absolutely. Do I think depriving a student of their education for refusing to take an AIDS test when they've never been exposed to it is something that the police and government should enforce? Nope. Makes no sense.
Would testing a 5-year-old whose parents have tested negative and has never had sex and has never had a blood transfusion help that 5-year-old? Nope. Substitute 5 for 16, and you get the same answer. Juniors in college would be a better target IF you believed the government has every right to take their blood without probable cause.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
I don't know where I stand on this one exactly. I lean towards no, but I could argue Pfleger's case too.
I think Pfleger deserves some credit for putting this idea out there though.
I chose the word audacity as a play on Obama's Audacity of Hope because Pfleger's proposal seems born of dispair, not hope.
Absolutely, Lovie. My question is - where are the Illinois Public Health professionals on this scourge to all citizens?
The real issue with these proposals for mandatory testing is medical privacy. This is especially important in the case of HIV testing, because of the stigma some people still associate with the disease.
Imo, Pfleger's proposal should be judged on the details. What protections are in place for the test results? Is there informed consent involved? Will the results be shared with the parents -- some of whom would throw a kid infected with HIV out of their home.
As a public health measure, regular testing for HIV is a smart move. However, we also have to recognize that there are other issues here that must be addressed concerning the safety and wellbeing of young people.
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