A recent executive order signed by Governor Greg Abbott imposed a prohibition on vaccine mandates for all entities, public or private. Abbott also said at the time he issued the order that he wanted legislation to be crafted and added to the special session that would codify into law those prohibitions, and on Wednesday the Texas House Committee on State Affairs officially got the ball rolling on a debate over House Bill 155. The legislation establishes that “no entity in the State of Texas can compel the receipt of a COVID-19 immunization to a person who objects to the vaccination on the basis of their conscience, whether it be for personal, medical, or religious reasons.”
HB 155 is authored by Cypress-area State Representative and anesthesiologist Tom Oliverson.
“One of the things that I believe very strongly in as a physician, and I think is a cornerstone and a bedrock of the way we practice medicine in this country — it is foundational to medical ethics — is the idea of patient autonomy,” Oliverson said. “And that is the idea that a patient of sound mind and body has the right to refuse medical advice and treatment, whether the literature shows that that might be beneficial to them or not, it is their decision. It is not my decision, it is not your decision, it is not the state’s decision. It is their individual decision to decide what they think is best for them with respect to their treatment.”
Oliverson told the committee that his personal and professional opinion is that public health mandates are typically not very effective.
“I think, unfortunately, with respect to the COVID pandemic, we’ve gotten away from that foundational, medical, ethical principle of patient autonomy, and we were sort of trampling all over it,” Oliverson said.
Were HB 155 to become law, it would not only prohibit any public or private sector entity from imposing a vaccine requirement, but also grant employees the ability to file a lawsuit against an employer who defies that state law.
The Austin Chamber of Commerce has taken a firm stance against a ban on vaccine mandates within the private sector.
“This executive order issued by Governor Abbott banning vaccine mandates by private employers is a mistake,” said Austin Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Laura Huffman. “It is contradictory to previous orders the governor issued that reinforced the rights of businesses to choose a path that works best for themselves when navigating the pandemic. It also places businesses that are subject to the forthcoming federal government’s vaccine rule in an impossible situation where to follow one order would defy the other. A mandate against mandates is still a mandate and our businesses and community deserve better than this.”
Huffman said vaccines are one of the best tools the nation has in ending the pandemic, and that businesses rejoiced once the vaccines became available, believing there was finally light at the end of the tunnel.
“As we await the conclusion of the inevitable legal battle that will surely be fought over this executive order, businesses will suffer, public health will be endangered, and our state will only be further divided. We respectfully call on Governor Abbott to rescind this order,” she said.
The Senate Committee on State Affairs is discussing a companion bill to HB 155 on Thursday.
