50 Unit 1 Foundations of Medical Law and Ethics Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. For example, the government must respect any objections that you may have to certain types of medical care based on your religious beliefs. The government can only override such objections when it can prove that there is a compelling public interest clearly outweighing the consti- tutional right of the individual. An example includes requiring children to be immunized before enrolling in school to protect all other children from illness. Even in this situation, however, some states have “opt-out” policies that allow people to forego immunizations based on religious objections. Vaccinations are beneficial for individuals and communities. When the majority of a population is vaccinated against a pathogen, the entire community is protected from the pathogen. This is known as herd immunity. Herd immunity makes it more difficult for a pathogen to spread. This is the primary rationale for making some vaccinations mandatory in the United States. All states require children attending public school or state-licensed day care to receive certain vaccinations. These requirements are state specific and therefore vary depending on where you live. The term mandate is somewhat misleading when applied to vaccination, however. The last time the United States had a true mandate, requiring vaccination without exception, was during World War I. Today, many states have procedures that allow parents and legal guardians to exempt their children from state vaccination requirements because of religious or personal beliefs, but this is changing due to new epidemics. Do you think that vaccination exemptions should exist? Should an individual’s preference take priority over the health of the community? Should the government be able to require that all children be vaccinated, or is that a violation of their constitutional rights? JPC-PROD/Shutterstock.com Ethical Dilemma Amendment XIV to the Constitution addresses the civil rights of citizens and contains two important clauses—the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. The Due Process Clause states that a citizen shall not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. This clause requires that laws and rules made by the government be reasonable and clear, and that fair procedures must be followed when the rules are enforced. Generally, this means you must be given notice and an opportunity to present information on your own behalf when government action will adversely affect you. Due Process Clause a phrase in the US Constitution that has been interpreted to mean that citizens cannot be deprived of life or liberty without notice and a right to be heard