Texas Governor Greg Abbott tries to underhand federal mandates in favor of “Texans’ right to choose” whether or not they want to be vaccinated.
Abbott issued an executive order Oct 12. banning all establishments from mandating a vaccine or asking for proof of vaccination. The order is an extension of a previous one that banned vaccine mandates from government structures and school districts, and now includes businesses and employers.
The move comes just days after President Joe Biden called for businesses with more than 100 people to get vaccinated or tested regularly. No official federal orders have gone into effect, but Biden has pushed the issue more as the vaccine becomes more available.
The governor justified the order by arguing that vaccine mandates infringe on personal freedoms and are an unnecessary intrusion on the lives of Texans. He claimed that the state’s strong economy and low unemployment rate demonstrate that businesses in Texas can thrive without mandating vaccines. Abbott’s order also allows for legal action against any business that violates the ban on vaccine mandates.
Abbott is allowed to implement the order under the Texas Disaster Act.
About 52% of the Texas population has been fully vaccinated according to Department of Health data complied by the New York Times. Health experts say states should have higher rates now that most adults can get the vaccine. However even as cases declined across the country, the state is still averaging over 7,000 cases per day, and about 200 deaths per day.
The governor himself is fully vaccinated. What’s more, he contracted COVID-19 after his doses, and said he experienced “little to no symptoms”, an contradiction to the message he spreads throughout the state.
Abbott insists that while masks and vaccinations help slow the spread of the coronavirus, he favors Texan’s right to choose above all else. Regardless of the legal and ethical questions surrounding Abbott’s order, it is clear that the debate over vaccine mandates is far from over.