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Indiana University (Archives): Safe Return to Class
Photo: SOPA Images / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Starting in the fall semester, students, teachers and employees at Indiana University should be able to move around the campus as they did before the pandemic: without having to wear a distance and without having to wear a mask.
The University of Bloomington has therefore announced a compulsory vaccination.
Now a federal judge has provisionally declared the duty to be lawful, but also stressed that it was not a final decision.
Eight students had sued the university's compulsory vaccination in the South Bend court, arguing that it violated their right to physical integrity and autonomy.
Judge Damon Leichty's decision can still be appealed to the Supreme Court.
The US Constitution allows the university "an appropriate and due vaccination process in the legitimate interest of public health."
Unwanted medical treatment could, however, "be refused on the basis of physical autonomy".
The university had allowed exceptions for religious or medical reasons.
"Today's decision does not mean the end of the fight - we plan to appeal the judge's decision immediately," said lawyer for the eight students, James Bopp Jr.
The right to attend university should not be made dependent on students having to forego their right to physical integrity.
The university, however, welcomed the decision.
The verdict ensures a safe return to class, it said.
US vaccination campaign is making slow progress
The vaccination campaign in the United States, which had made tremendous progress at first, has stalled in the past few weeks.
Around 68 percent of adults have received at least one dose of vaccine so far.
kha / AFP / dpa
