Do parents have the right to risk the lives of their children?

In late July of this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an Executive Order protecting the rights of parents to choose whether to require their children to wear masks to school. But what about the rights of their children?

According to the Declaration of Independence, we all have the inalienable right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” How do we guarantee the right to life if we allow parents to risk their children’s lives by sending them to school, unvaccinated and unmasked?

The latest reports show this Delta variant is both more contagious and potentially more deadly than the original Covid-19. Without the ability to vaccinate children under 12, parents who send their kids to school unmasked are risking their children’s lives. Does a parent have the right to do that? I would argue the answer to that question is an emphatic, “No.”

When Governor DeSantis prioritizes the rights of parents over the safety of their children, he is promoting child abuse. This is according to U.S. law and the 2020 Statues in his home state of Florida, where child abuse is defined as

“…An intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or mental injury to a child; or active encouragement of any person to commit an act that results or could…