強制學童接種疫苗之理論與實務：以合憲性探討為核心

綜觀歷史，全球性疾病之散播為社會面臨之現象，在過去，當疾病威脅人口之健康與生存時，科學回應予疫苗之研發，當疫苗之演進更有效益，保護人們免於疾病之威脅時，亦為疫苗之時代來臨，疫苗接種被譽為二十世紀十大醫學成就之一，所拯救之生命高於其他醫學科技。然而，幾個世紀以來，美國卻經歷家長選擇替其子女拒絕接種疫苗之「疫苗猶豫」，反疫苗運動之聲浪在網路間甚囂塵上，而當立法以強制手段要求學童接種疫苗時，如何平衡群體公共衛生與個人自主之利益成為兩難，反疫苗運動無可避免地在政府利益與個人權利間帶來緊張關係，雖然美國司法實務權威性地支持州政府對於公共衛生事項，包含強制接種疫苗的權力，惟公共衛生固然重要，個人拒絕接種疫苗之自主亦不容受到忽視，尤其是涉及內心宗教信仰自由時，時至今日，公共衛生的需求及個人權利間之平衡所支配之疫苗政策，仍成為論辯的焦點。

"The worldwide spread of disease is a phenomenon that society has faced throughout history. In the past, when diseases threatened the health and survival of our population, the scientific community responded with the development of vaccines. Vaccines are more effective and protect against more diseases than ever before. Here comes the“Decade of Vaccines”. Vaccination has been called one of the top ten medical achievements of the twentieth century. Vaccines have saved more lives than other medical technology. However, over the past few decades, the United States has witnessed a growing tread of vaccination hesitation and refusal by parents who choose not to vaccinate their children, anti-vaccination speech abounds on the Internet. The balancing of competing interests is a basic dilemma on the childhood vaccination. The United States judiciary has spoken authoritatively in sport of states’rights to exercise their police powers with regard to public health matters, including compulsory vaccination. But the autonomy of refusing vaccination is also important, especially related to free exercise of religion. There remains much debate about the balance between the needs of public health and civil liberties."