Those are good points. The inoculation issue was a bad example -- for the reason you mentioned. LOL. Consider instead a case involving potential water-borne diseases in the groundwater system. Would I, as you next-door neighbor, be permitted to have you forced under the law to get rid of your well and septic system and replace them with costly connections to a public utility? For that matter, how does the whole concept of a "public utility" fit into what the original U.S. Constitution envisioned as individual liberties?
Consider instead a case involving potential water-borne diseases in the groundwater system. Would I, as you next-door neighbor, be permitted to have you forced under the law to get rid of your well and septic systemIf they posed a clear and present danger of contagion, yes. Certainly urban life makes clear and present dangers of contagion more possible, but that does not blur the essential concepts of freedom and liberty.
and replace them with costly connections to a public utility?
No (although that may be the only practical alternative to a well and septic system).
For that matter, how does the whole concept of a "public utility" fit into what the original U.S. Constitution envisioned as individual liberties?
The Constitution permits no federal public utilities.