Coronavirus Pandemic

Protests, masks and public health: where do my rights end and yours begin?

A medical ethicist asks if anti-lockdown protesters "have a moral duty to forgo medical care in favor of those who follow the rules?"

Air Date: May 27, 2020 10:00 am

Protesters demonstrate at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, April 20, 2020, demanding that Gov. Tom Wolf reopen Pennsylvania's economy even as new social-distancing mandates took effect at stores and other commercial buildings. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

GUESTS: Dominic Sisti, Alison Buttenheim

Should anti-lockdown protesters give up their right to priority medical care if they contract COVID-19? That’s the question posed in a provocative op-ed by a group of medical ethicists who suggest that protesters should voluntarily sign waivers forgoing treatment when resources are scare. This hour, we explore what our responsibility is to others during a pandemic with DOMINIC SISTI, a Penn Medicine bioethicist and one of the authors of the op-ed. Then, with businesses beginning to reopen and people starting to venture out, we look at why some people refuse to follow public health recommendations – like wearing masks and social distancing – and if there are ways to change their behavior. ALISON BUTTENHEIM, professor of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, is our guest.

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