By Kyle Becker
The State of Texas has thrown down against COVID passports — a mobile form of vaccine tracking that has been picked up in New York and has been discussed within the Biden administration.
On Tuesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order banning them from the Lone Star State.
“Every day, Texans return to normalcy as more people get the COVID vaccine. In fact, this week, Texas will surpass 13 million doses administered. Those shots help slow the spread of COVID, reduce hospitalizations, and reduce fatalities. But, as I have said all along, these vaccines are always voluntary and never forced,” the Republican explained. “Government should not require any Texan to show proof of vaccination and reveal private health information just to go about their daily lives. … We will continue to vaccinate more Texans and protect public health. And we will do so without treading on Texans’ personal freedoms.”
Abbott also “forbade any ‘public or private entity’ that receives government funding, such as loans, grants, and contracts, from withholding service or entry to Texans who do not have proof that they received inoculation,” the Federalist noted. This is critical: State executives are weaponizing businesses to infringe on rights that the state is bound not to cross, due to “informed consent” laws and human rights laws such as the Nuremberg Code that goes back to post-World War II.
On Monday, a second GOP Governor joined with Florida’s Ron DeSantis in opposition to so-called “COVID passports” that prove that someone has been vaccinated: Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves.
“I don’t think it’s necessary, and I don’t think it’s a good thing to do in America,” Reeves told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday signed an executive order to forbid COVID passports in the State of Florida. The governor has also called on the Republican-led Legislature to push forth a measure addressing ‘vaccine passports.”
“We are not supporting doing any vaccine passports in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said earlier. “It’s completely unacceptable for either the government or the private sector to impose upon you the requirement that you show proof of vaccine to just simply be able to participate in normal society.”
“You want the fox to guard the henhouse?” DeSantis said. “I mean, give me a break.”
“I think this is something that has huge privacy implications,” he continued. “It is not necessary to do. You know, we’re going to have hit 3.5 million seniors that have gotten shots sometime this week. Likely 75% of seniors. It’s important to be able to do it. But at the same time, we are not going to have you provide proof of this just to be able to live your life normally.”
“And I am going to be taking some action, in the executive function, emergency function here, very shortly,” the governor added.
The Washington Post earlier reported that the Biden administration was looking into a “COVID passport.”
“The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard way of handling credentials — often referred to as ‘vaccine passports’ — that would allow Americans to prove they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as businesses try to reopen,” the Washington Post reported.
“The effort has gained momentum amid President Biden’s pledge that the nation will start to regain normalcy this summer and with a growing number of companies — from cruise lines to sports teams — saying they will require proof of vaccination before opening their doors again,” the report continued.
New York has already launched its COVID passport, following a trial run on thousands of New Yorkers testing the program. The Excelsior Passport was reported to be “the first of its kind to be rolled out in United States and allows specific sites that administer COVID vaccines or test for the coronavirus to upload the data to the app,” the Gothamist reported.
Texas and Florida have now stated unequivocally its opposition to medical tyranny. Now, we need to see more governors in America actually take action against this dangerous infringement on civil liberties.
As seen on Becker News. Follow Kyle Becker and Becker News on Twitter.