Thank you Kaci Hickox

You likely have heard the story of Kaci Hickox even if you don't know the name. Here's a refresher and an update.

Long story short, Kaci is a nurse who recently returned to the U.S. after treating Ebola patients in West Africa. Instead of being welcomed back, she was immediately quarantined because she had a slightly above normal temperature. She continued to be quarantined even though

• Subsequent temperature readings showed that her temperature was normal.
• She had NO symptoms of Ebola and a person is only contagious if they are symptomatic
• She soon TESTED NEGATIVE for Ebola not once, but twice.

That's right, she was in quarantine to protect the community from a disease that she never had and couldn't have spread even if she did have it. Exactly 4 people have been diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. Only 2 people have contracted it in the United States. There are three countries in Africa where Ebola is truly a crisis. Every place else, including the other 44 countries in Africa, are doing just fine.

Ebola is scary. Any virus that kills is scary. But when a woman is quarantined for the sake of public safety even though there is conclusive evidence that she is not ill we have allowed fear to control us. 

So why should we all thank Kaci Hickox? Because this otherwise ordinary person resisted the absurd rules that were put in place and fought for her right to live freely. From time to time we need to remind public officials and private citizens of how easy it is for those rights to be taken away.

In 1985, a Los Angeles Times poll showed that 51 percent of Americans were in favor of quarantining AIDS patients. 48 percent believed those with AIDS should have to carry ID cards and 15 percent wanted to tattoo AIDS patients. Today those notions seem absurd, but 20 years ago when people were scared it didn't seem like such a bad idea. Think something like that can't actually happen? It was a different kind of fear but fear nonetheless that led to the internment of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Fear is a powerful motivator, but fear as a motivator must be resisted. That's what Kaci did. Others will benefit from her willingness to take heat in the media and from residents of the town she lives in. 

So thank you, Kaci Hickox. Thank you for caring for your fellow humanity in serving the people of West Africa and thank you for resisting injustice here at home by standing up to those who tried to shut you down.