Supreme Court Overturns Measles Vaccine v. Measles

In a landmark decision on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decades-old precedent set in the case Measles Vaccine v. Measles. 

The original 1963 decision established the legal right of the measles vaccine to inoculate people against measles and has directly caused a decline in measles rates from around 48,000 cases annually in 1960 to being officially eradicated in the US. Additionally, the Measles Vaccine v. Measles decision has been cited many times in similar cases, such as Chickenpox Vaccine v. Chickenpox (1996) and Hepatitis B. Vaccine v. Hepatitis B (1981).

Despite the undeniable societal benefits, longstanding bipartisan support, and clear moral supremacy, the Supreme Court decided 6-3 that the 1963 decision had been in error. Writing for the Court’s conservative majority in Super Measles v. Measles Vaccine, Chief Justice John Roberts said “it is the opinion of this court that despite persuasive arguments by the Measles Vaccine, we believe that it was the Founding Fathers’ original intent for American citizens to contract measles and possibly die. Nowhere in the Constitution does it mention a right to not get measles. We must conclude that whether or not one gets measles should be random, as God intended.”

Writing for the minority, Justice Sonya Sotomayor said “Guys. It’s the measles vaccine. How could you possibly think that measles is in the right here.”