The nurse who threatened to take legal action against New Jersey officials for placing her in quarantine following a trip to West Africa to treat Ebola patients is fighting for her freedom once again, this time with the state of Maine.
Kaci Hickox, who was released from a quarantine tent outside of a New Jersey hospital earlier this week, is giving Maine an ultimatum — lift her quarantine, or she will leave her home and take the issue to court. After release from quarantine in Jersey, Hickox returned to her home in Fort Kent, a small town on Maine’s northern border, to complete the 21 days of isolation.
There, police officers stand outside her home to make sure she doesn’t leave. Local health officials have also been checking on her regularly. But Hickox, maintaining that she is healthy after testing negative for Ebola twice, says she won’t be bullied by politicians and their mandated quarantine.
“I truly believe this policy is not scientifically nor constitutionally just, and so I am not going to sit around and be bullied around by politicians and be forced to stay in my home when I am not a risk to the American public,” Hickox, speaking from her home in the small Maine town of Fort Kent along the Canadian border, told NBC’s “Today” program.
“If the restrictions placed on me by the state of Maine are not lifted by Thursday morning, I will go to court to fight for my freedom,” Hickox added.
Hickox’s defiance did not sit well with Republican Governor Paul LePage, who said he would seek legal authority to keep her isolated at home until Nov. 10.
“While we certainly respect the rights of one individual, we must be vigilant in protecting 1.3 million Mainers, as well as anyone who visits our great state,” LePage said in a statement.
On Thursday, Hickox defied officials, leaving her home for a bike ride with her boyfriend.
From AP:
Kaci Hickox and her boyfriend stepped out of their home Thursday morning and rode away on bicycles, followed by state police who were monitoring her movements and public interactions. Police couldn’t detain her without a court order signed by a judge.
Earlier in the week, Hickox’s lawyer suggested that the quarantine is unlawful.
Her lawyer, Steven Hyman, told Reuters that Maine has no basis to arrest or detain her. “Such action would be illegal and unconstitutional and we would seek to protect Kaci’s rights as an American citizen under the Constitution. There is no medical risk and we have to deal with fact and not hysteria,” he said.
The incubation period for Ebola is 21 days. Hickox said her last contact with a patient was Oct. 21. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
