Is It My Right to Not Wear a Mask?

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By Marlena Ryan

How has masks wearing become so controversial? In 2020, The United States has been battling COVID 19, a pandemic that has swept across the whole world for almost half of the year. Washing our hands, practicing social distancing, and the closures of places like schools and churches are some of the tools most states have used to fight this disease. Many of us watched news reports back in March that told us about the N95 masks shortages health care workers were facing across our country. We understood that a doctor or nurse being asked to wear a bandana to work because the shortages on masks were so severe, was completely unacceptable.

So in April, when the CDC started to recommend that Americans wear a facial covering, something as simple as a bandana to cover our nose and mouth to help prevent the spread of COVID 19, one would think that Americans would support this as another tool to fight this virus. Sadly, not everyone agreed with this. Shortly after the recommendation to wear facial coverings, protests and cries to not only “open the country” but to also not wear a mask became loud and clear across the United States. As it turns out, this is not the first time Americans have declared their freedom to be paramount over public safety.

The Flu of 1918 occurred during an election year. While it brought our country to a halt, some of the same practices to fight the pandemic then are similar to we are using today. There were school closures and bans on mass gatherings. Additionally, masks ordinances were initiated in many western states. In San Francisco, California, a public service announcement was placed in the Chronicle newspaper with this message: “Wear a Mask and Save Your Life!” Thousands of masks were distributed for free. And instructions were included in newspapers to help readers make their own masks at home. San Franciscans wore their masks through election day but the city ended its mask order shortly after. In Denver, Colorado, people were encouraged to wear masks not only as their Patriotic duty, but also as the way to protect themselves and others from the flu. But the complaints were many and ranged from people saying that the masks were uncomfortable to claiming that the mask mandates were a violation of civil liberties. By the end of the flu pandemic, over 500,000 Americans had lost their lives.

Sixty-eight years later, Americans were not battling a pandemic but seat belt laws. Initially, Congress created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (or NHTSA) which required all vehicles except for buses to be equipped with seat belts in 1968. However, the use of seat belts was voluntary, and most Americans chose not to wear one. The arguments against seat belts centered around personal choice and freedom. Some even felt that the number of lives saved by seat belts was inflated. Yet In 1984, New York became the first state to pass a seat belt law making it mandatory for seat belts to be worn. California passed a similar law in 1986 and other states followed suit except for New Hampshire which to this day does not have a seat belt law for drivers or passengers over the age of 18. But the mandates only caused people to argue that the seat belts were uncomfortable and as one opposer told the Chicago Tribune in 1987, “In this country, saving freedom is more important than trying to regulate lives through legislation.”

And now, in the year 2020, Americans once again are pointing to their civil liberties as the most reasonable argument against wearing facial coverings during the COVID 19 pandemic. While many Americans do wear masks, some who have chosen not to wear them, known as anti-maskers, feel that the CDC contradicted itself by initially saying masks were not effective, then changing its stance to recommending that all Americans wear a facial covering. But, if these individuals were to look back to the earlier days of this pandemic, they would note that first, there was a concern in February and March that the masks shortage in our country would worsen if Americans bought N95 masks to protect themselves. Second, members of the Coronavirus taskforce were concerned that Americans would get a false sense of security from the use of masks and facial coverings and therefore not practice handwashing and social distancing. But, as information about COVID 19 began to evolve, so did the methods for fighting it. And as evidence began to grow showing that asymptomatic people with COVID 19 could spread the virus just by breathing, the need to get Americans to wear masks when out in public became more urgent.

The other main argument among anti-maskers has been that masks wearing is a political scare tactic and an infringement upon our civil liberties. This is the viewpoint that I find most worrisome as it has resulted in many angry outbursts from people who throw verbal and even violent tantrums over being asked to wear a mask inside of a store or restaurant. Anti-maskers are also viewing mask mandates as the government’s way of seeing what they can get American citizens to submit to. Their refusal to wear masks has exposed a level of distrust in science, the media, and in the medical community unlike our country has ever seen. Many anti-maskers believe that the numbers of COVID 19 infections and even the number of COVID 19 deaths are either overblown or outright fabricated.

While Americans have had years of commercials, news articles, and studies that have shown proof that seat belts save lives when worn correctly, we have not had as long to come to the conclusion that wearing a facial covering, when worn properly, can also help save lives. But time is not on our side in battling COVID 19. Earlier this month, a model from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation which advises the White House, indicated that if everyone wore a mask or facial covering, it could prevent an additional 17,000-28,000 deaths by October 1st. But, if the United States does make any changes, the models predict over 100,000 infections a day by late September, and over 200,000 deaths by November 1st. As of July 17th, twenty-eight states have masks mandates. And the Director of the CDC, Robert Redfield, stated during a press release this month, “If anyone in this nation would just take on a face covering, practice excellent hand hygiene and be smart about their distancing in crowds, we can bring this outbreak to its knees in two, four, six, eight weeks.”

Is it my right to not wear a mask? I think the better question is this: If there was one simple thing that anyone could do that could save your life, or the life of someone you love, would you want them to do it? Who refuses to do the least of something that would have the greatest impact?

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