(Washington Insider Magazine) -Texas Governor Greg Abbot (R) signed an executive order this week, banning COVID-19 vaccine mandates from any entity across the state. It served as one more salvo in the battle between pro-mandate and anti-mandate politicians.
Over the past year, Texas has gained a reputation for bucking some of the more stringent advice put out by Washington and the CDC. Last month, President Biden announced a nationwide mandate for all businesses that employee 100 or more people. Those businesses must either ensure their employees are vaccinated or get regularly tested. The order caused an immediate backlash among conservative politicians and talking heads. Abbot’s executive order is an obvious volley directed at Biden’s mandate.
According to the executive order, “No entity in Texas can compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine by any individual, including an employee or a consumer, who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.” This takes Abbot’s August executive order a step further. That ban on vaccine mandates only applied to governmental entities. Before that ban, Abbot had banned vaccine requirements for shots administered under an emergency use authorization.
The most recent order clarifies that anyone who violates the order is subject to the maximum fine permitted.
After signing the order, Abbot asked the chief clerk of the state House and the secretary of the Senate to include a ban on vaccine mandates in the agenda for the upcoming special legislative session. According to the governor, the executive order will be rescinded once a bill is passed that accomplishes the same goal.
Though Abbot has shown his opposition to vaccine mandates several times in the past year, he has spoken highly of the vaccine itself. In a statement given at the announcement of his most recent executive order, he said, “The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced.”
This executive order comes just as Gov. Abbot’s approval rating seems to be slipping, falling from 47% at the beginning of the year to 41% in August. Those numbers must be on his mind as he faces reelection next year. Currently, 51% of Texans believe he should not be reelected when the polls open next fall.
