A bill has been proposed in the state of New York that would give state officials the authority to order detainment of people who are deemed a danger or threat to the public's health.

Just because you lose your sense of taste and smell doesn't mean you lose your constitutional rights, does it? That's not a question anyone thought they'd have to ask in 2021 but we are in the middle of a pandemic.

A bill being discussed in New York has got many residents concerned.

According to Newsweek, democratic assemblyman Nick Perry introduced bill A416 to the State's health committee today.

You can find and read the entire bill online. Some of the verbiage is alarming some residents of New York who fear it could infringe upon their rights.

The summary of the bill states "Relates to the removal of cases, contacts and carriers of communicable diseases that are potentially dangerous to the public health."

This bill would give the governor in accordance to the commissioner of health the power of "removal and or detention" of people issued a threat. The bill later states that lawyers can be provided "to the extent possible" after detainment.

Though many are just hearing about it now the bill is not new and was actually first introduced after someone brought the Ebola virus into the country. Though it's original creation was for Ebola are we naïve to think they wouldn't use the measure from the bill on COVID-19 patients or possibly future strains of the coronavirus? Why the sudden urge to pass the legislation? COVID-19 has taken over a million lives throughout the world.

Though having COVID was a scary experience I was lucky enough to be healthy to be quarantined and not the hospital. I could not imagine being forcefully detained and  pulled away from my home to spend my time recovering in hospital in a detention center.

Do you think this bill would be in public's best interest or is it really a slippery slope?

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