FILE - In this June 16, 2021 file photo, Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference in Austin, Texas. Gov. Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021, banning any state or local mandates requiring people to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and he called on Texas legislators to vote it into law during their current special session.(Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP File)
Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday banning any state or local mandates requiring people to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and he called on Texas legislators to vote it into law during their current special session.
The move came as Texas reported the most COVID-19 patients in its hospitals since the pandemic began.
Abbott issued his ban in an executive order to fill a loophole left by the full authorization of the Pfizer vaccine. He had previously banned the requirement of vaccinations under emergency use authorizations . He also has banned state and local government mandates for wearing masks .
“Vaccine requirements and exemptions have historically been determined by the Legislature, and their involvement is particularly important to avoid a patchwork of vaccine mandates across Texas,” Abbott said on the governor’s office website .
Nine counties, dozens of school districts and the city of El Paso have defied the Abbott mask mandate ban , and some of the state’s most populous counties have asked for court orders to overturn or block enforcement of the ban . On Wednesday, Dallas County became the latest to obtain a court order blocking enforcement.
“Although this is an important victory, it’s really not a victory against a person or an entity,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the county’s leading elected official, said at a news conference. “It’s a victory for humans who live in Dallas County against the virus.”
A new wave of COVID-19 cases has been sweeping the state, fueled by the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, prompting the wave of defiance of the Abbott order.
The Texas Supreme Court has declined to block restraining orders against Abbott’s mask mandate ban. Also, the Texas Education Agency has, for now, suspended enforcement of the mask mandate ban in the state’s public school systems.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported 79% of the 85,874 Texas intensive-care unit beds are full, about 30% of them with COVID-19 cases. Overall COVID-19 hospitalizations were a record 14,255 Wednesday, beating the Jan. 11 record of 14,218 reported by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
SemperScrotus on August 26th, 2021 at 06:28 UTC »
I'm confused. I thought conservatives don't support big government telling local governments what to do...? It's almost as if all of their talk of limited government and letting local communities govern themselves is all a bunch of bullshit. Weird.
ThrowingChicken on August 26th, 2021 at 05:48 UTC »
Rick Perry signed an executive order mandating the HPV vaccine for all girls entering the 6th grade. Abbott makes me miss Rick Perry, and I fucking hated Rick Perry.
hikermick on August 26th, 2021 at 03:59 UTC »
Remember the debate over Obamacare? Conservatives then told us doctors should be in charge of our healthcare and not politicians
Edit: this garnered quite a bit of attention and reply to each post I'll just say it here.
The doctors have been saying "get the vaccine, wear a mask, social distance"
Some politicians are saying "what evs, you do you"
Personally I have quit calling this a pandemic and will now address the situation as The Purge