Ethics professor threatened with dismissal for refusing vaccine

Published 7th September 2021

“My name is Julie Ponesse, and this message is about mandatory vaccinations.

I am a Professor of Ethics at Huron College at the University of Western Ontario. It’s one of the largest universities in Canada. Today I am going to teach you a short lesson on the universally accepted ethics of coercing people into medical procedures. I’ll be the example.

My employer has just mandated that I must get a vaccine for Covid-19. If I want to keep working at my job as a professor, I have to take this vaccine. Here’s my conundrum. My school employs me to be an authority on the subject of ethics. I hold a PhD in Ethics and Ancient Philosophy, and I’m here to tell you it’s ethically wrong to coerce someone to take a vaccine. If it happens to you, you don’t have to do it. If you don’t want a Covid vaccine, don’t take one. End of discussion. It’s your own business. But that is not the approach of the University of Western Ontario which has suddenly required that I be vaccinated immediately or not report for work. So with the school year beginning in a few days, I am facing imminent dismissal after 20 years on the job, because I will not submit to having an experimental vaccine injected into my body.

I’ve had plenty of vaccines in my life but I’ve never been forced to take one; it’s always been my choice. I don’t work in a high risk environment, I’m not a doctor in an Emergency Room. I’m a teacher. I’m a university professor. My job is to teach students how to think critically, to ask questions that might expose a false argument. Questions like: “Says who? Who is the authority giving this order? Should I trust them with control over my body?”

As a professor, I don’t have to watch the news to find out if the Covid vaccines are safe. I read medical journals, and I consult my colleagues who are professors of science and medicine. I’ve learned from doctors that there are serious questions about how safe these vaccines really are. There are questions about how well they work. Nobody is promising that I won’t get Covid or transmit Covid if I get the vaccine. But ultimately, none of that matters to me because I’m a professor of ethics and I’m a Canadian. I’m entitled to make choices about what does and does not enter my body, regardless of my reasons.

If I’m allowed back into my university, it’s my job to teach my students that this is wrong. I’m hired to teach them that it is ethically wrong to impose an experimental medical procedure as a condition of employment.

This is my first and potentially my last lesson the the year. Ethics 101: In the spirit of Socrates who was executed for asking questions, this lesson will consist of only one question. The answer is multiple choice. Please listen carefully:

When a person has done the same job to the satisfaction of her employer for 20 years, is it right or is it wrong to suddenly demand that they submit to an unnecessary medical procedure in order to keep their job? In this case the procedure is an injection of a substance that has not been fully tested for safety. It has not yet been shown to be effective. It is designed to prevent an illness that poses little threat to the employee. The employee is not allowed to ask questions. She may only submit to the procedure or be fired. To my first year students, is this right or is this wrong? I already know the answer.”

(Dr. Ponesse was dismissed from her position on September 7, 2021)