Texas Governor Issues Executive Order Banning Vaccine Mandates by Any Entity

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott connected Oct. 11 issued an enforcement bid that bans vaccine mandates by immoderate entity successful the state, including backstage employers.

“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our champion defence against the virus, but should stay voluntary and ne'er forced,” Abbott said successful a connection upon issuing the order.

The enforcement bid (pdf) states, “No entity successful Texas tin compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine by immoderate individual, including an worker oregon a consumer, who objects to specified vaccination for immoderate crushed of idiosyncratic conscience, based connected a spiritual belief, oregon for aesculapian reasons, including anterior betterment from COVID-19.”

“I hereby suspend each applicable statutes to the grade indispensable to enforce this prohibition,” Abbott wrote successful the order.

He besides added the contented arsenic an docket to the 3rd peculiar legislative session, which is currently convened until Oct. 19, to springiness lawmakers the accidental to walk a instrumentality to akin effect.

“The enforcement bid volition beryllium rescinded upon the transition of specified legislation,” Abbott wrote.

President Joe Biden successful September issued an announcement saying the medication is seeking to compel backstage companies with much than 100 employees to person their workers beryllium vaccinated oregon tested weekly. Companies look $13,600 successful fines per usurpation if specified a regularisation becomes effective.

At the time, Abbott called Biden’s determination “an battle connected backstage businesses” and said that “Texas is already moving to halt this powerfulness grab,” joining much than a twelve states successful resisting the mandate.

The substance of Abbott’s latest enforcement order, GA-40, reads, “In yet different lawsuit of national overreach, the Biden Administration is present bullying galore backstage entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that endanger Texas’s continued betterment from the COVID-19 disaster.

“Countless Texans fearfulness losing their livelihoods due to the fact that they entity to receiving a COVID-19 vaccination for reasons of idiosyncratic conscience, based connected a spiritual belief, oregon for aesculapian reasons, including anterior betterment from COVID-19.”

The politician noted successful his enforcement bid that the Texas Legislature “has taken attraction to supply exemptions that let radical to opt retired of being forced to instrumentality a vaccine for reasons of conscience oregon aesculapian reasons.”

Abbott antecedently successful June signed into law a measurement that bans government entities and backstage businesses from requiring impervious of COVID-19 vaccination arsenic a information for work oregon entry. Businesses that don’t comply with the instrumentality volition not beryllium capable to participate immoderate authorities contracts and volition beryllium ineligible to person a grant.

A erstwhile enforcement bid Abbott signed successful April didn’t screen backstage businesses with respect to vaccine passports.

Editor’s note: This nonfiction has been further edited for clarity.