By Staff Reporter |
A top professor at the University of Arizona (U of A) accused the lawmaker behind legislation effectively banning vaccine mandates of being a “Nazi.”
Elizabeth “Beth” Jacobs, professor emeritus in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at U of A, posted the accusation against Rep. Nick Kupper (R-LD25) on Bluesky.
“‘Just because I am at risk doesn’t mean I can invade your body because of my risk factor. That’s not okay,’” quoted Jacobs. “These are the words of AZ state rep Nick Kupper (R, Nazi Germany) in sharing his belief that immunocompromised people don’t deserve to be protected by vaccine requirements for school entry.”
In response, Kupper mocked the idea that his opposition to state-imposed medical mandates was akin to the tactics of a dictatorship notorious for its state mandates.
The bill, HCR 2056, goes beyond vaccines. The resolution would allow voters to decide whether Arizonans should have a new constitutional right to refuse medical mandates imposed by government entities.
The resolution did provide carveouts for court-ordered mental health or substance use disorder treatments, evidence collection by law enforcement and probation officers, medical decisions by parents, and reporting and tracking medical products or treatments by health care providers.
The Arizona House passed the bill last week along party lines, with all Democrats against the resolution and all Republicans in favor of it.
On the House floor, Kupper described the resolution as the fullest realization of bodily autonomy. The representative said the resolution wouldn’t stop the refusal of admission to those who are actively sick or infected.
“No state in this nation has ever asked its voters whether they want the ability to make their own medical decisions or whether they want the state to make medical decisions for them, and that’s a travesty,” said Kupper. “It just doesn’t allow the state to prescribe the method in which you want to better yourself.”
On Monday, Jacobs and visiting U of A professor James Alwine issued an opinion article accusing Kupper and other Republican lawmakers of regressing healthcare in the state.
The two professors argued that an increase in the unvaccinated population would cause vaccines to be less effective due to increased viral and bacterial mutations. Jacobs and Alwine claimed the number of dead and permanently disabled children would increase.
Ultimately, Jacobs and Alwine declared that medical freedom had no place in civilized society.
“This is the disastrous consequence of ‘medical freedom,’ where the right to life and liberty is ignored in order to boost a selfish agenda,” said Jacobs and Alwine. “‘Medical freedom’ is the antithesis of community, but Arizona Republicans do not seem to care about that.”
Jacobs indicates from her other online postings that she generally believes those who lean right politically have criminal behaviors.
In a more recent repost, Jacobs advocated for ICE agents accused of placing bets on detainees most likely to die by suicide to be sent to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which imposes punishments on individuals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.
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