The media was in an uproar Tuesday after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott , R., issued an executive order banning “any entity” in the state from enforcing …
The media was in an uproar Tuesday after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, R., issued an executive order banning “any entity” in the state from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. “The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced,” Abbott said in a press release Monday. The executive order prohibits any entity in the state from compelling an individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine “who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience.” The bill, he said, would supersede any conflicting order by local jurisdictions. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R., has issued similar orders in recent weeks, including a ban on mask mandates in schools. Left-leaning press questioned Abbott’s move, calling it unsafe and potentially illegal. “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s new order on vaccine mandates is beyond unhinged,” a Los Angeles Times’ headline read. In his piece, Michael Hiltzik argued the vaccine has turned Abbott “batty.” “Abbott’s order is manifestly political, a sop to the far-right-wing Republican base in his state,” Hiltzik wrote. “But its impact can’t be minimized.
