Nurse: I'm prepared to fight Maine quarantine

FORT KENT, Maine (AP) -- A nurse who was confined against her will at a New Jersey hospital after returning from West Africa where she treated Ebola patients said Wednesday that she's prepared to go to court if the state of Maine tries to quarantine her.

Nurse Kaci Hickox in an isolation tent at University Hospital in Newark (AP Photo/Steven Hyman)

Kaci Hickox spoke to NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Good Morning America" from Fort Kent, where her boyfriend is a senior nursing student.

She said she has so far abided by the state's voluntary quarantine. She had no contact with anyone Tuesday and will have no human contact again Wednesday, she said.

"I don't plan on sticking to the guidelines," Hickox said on "Today." "I remain appalled by these home quarantine policies that have been forced upon me even though I am in perfectly good health."

Her lawyer told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Hickox isn't willing to cooperate further unless the state lifts "all or most of the restrictions."

Hickox, who volunteered in Africa with Doctors Without Borders, was the first person forced into New Jersey's mandatory quarantine for people arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport from three West African countries.

Hickox, who spent the weekend in a quarantine tent, said she never had Ebola symptoms and tested negative in a preliminary evaluation, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo were sharply criticized for ordering mandatory quarantines.

"I am not going to sit around and be bullied by politicians and forced to stay in my home when I am not a risk to the American public," she said.

On Tuesday, Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew said her department and the attorney general's office were prepared to take legal steps to legally enforce the state's voluntary quarantine if someone declines to cooperate.

"We do not want to have to legally enforce in-home quarantine," she said. "We're confident that selfless health workers who were brave enough to care for Ebola patients in a foreign country will be willing to take reasonable steps to protect residents of their own country."

One of Hickox's lawyers, Norman Siegel, said the quarantine can't be voluntary if she's being coerced by the state. He said she returned Tuesday evening to Fort Kent and has a state trooper stationed outside her home.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage canceled his campaign events Wednesday to deal with the situation, his office said.

Siegel said he remains hopeful the state will ease its restrictions. If not, then the state would have to go to court, and Siegel would challenge the state's action, he said.

"Our position is very simple. There's no justification for the state of Maine to quarantine her. She has no symptoms and therefore she's not contagious. And she's not at a risk to the public or the health and welfare of people in the state of Maine," he said.