On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott released an executive order announcing that Texas is banning any vaccine mandates, which includes private employers.
The order said, “The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced.”
The order went on to say, “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.”
Abbott noted in the order, “I hereby suspend all relevant statutes to the extent necessary to enforce this prohibition.”
Abbott’s executive order comes after Former Vice President Joe Biden announced his intention of compelling private companies of 100+ employees to mandate all their employees to be vaccinated. Private organizations who fail to bend to the will of Former Vice President Biden were threatened with a $13,600 fine per employee who does not comply.
Abbott addressed Biden’s mandate to compel private citizens to take the vaccine saying, “In yet another instance of federal overreach, the Biden Administration is now bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas’s continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster.”
The Texas Governor went on to say, “Countless Texans fear losing their livelihoods because they object to receiving a COVID-19 vaccination for reasons of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”