Abbott the SNAKE? Why the Texas Governor’s Vaccine Passport Ban Does NOT Protect Texans

Yesterday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott banned COVID-19 vaccine passports in Texas.

Texas is open 100%.

Texans should have the freedom to go where they want without any limits, restrictions, or requirements.

Today, I signed a law that prohibits any TX business or gov’t entity from requiring vaccine passports or any vaccine information. pic.twitter.com/JQXOe4cHgY

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 7, 2021

Abbott stated that businesses and government entities are prohibited from enforcing these Medical Jim Crow mandates.

But there’s more to it when you dig deeper into the bill:

BOMBSHELL: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's vaccine passport ban does virtually nothing to prevent businesses from requiring them. He's "just lying," says one pundit.

Businesses who require vaccine passports will simply not be able to contract with the state.https://t.co/E2iCOkg9ME

— National File (@NationalFile) June 8, 2021

For all the out of state hot takes: This is performative. The law signed by @GregAbbott_TX says companies with state contracts (very few companies) cannot require customers to prove they've been vaccinated. Abbott is just lying when he says vaccine passports are banned #txlege https://t.co/r89lKKpHwq

— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) June 8, 2021

Greg Abbott is a lying dog faced pony soldier. His vaccine passport ban only affects businesses that contract with the state and businesses that receive grants.

There is no penalty preventing the average Texas business from requiring vaccine passports.https://t.co/VcTC6ynYSH

— Tom Pappert (@realTomPappert) June 8, 2021

Here’s the bill for you to review.

I’ve saved you some time and pulled the section referencing the ban of COVID-19 vaccine passports:

Sec.161.0085.COVID-19 VACCINE PASSPORTS PROHIBITED.

(a) In this section, “COVID-19” means the 2019 novel coronavirus disease.

(b) A governmental entity in this state may not issue a vaccine passport, vaccine pass, or other standardized
documentation to certify an individual ’s COVID-19 vaccination status to a third party for a purpose other than health care or otherwise publish or share any individual ’s COVID-19 immunization record or similar health information for a purpose other than health care.

(c) A business in this state may not require a customer to provide any documentation certifying the customer ’s COVID-19 vaccination or post-transmission recovery on entry to, to gain access to, or to receive service from the business. A business that fails to comply with this subsection is not eligible to receive a grant or enter into a contract payable with state funds.

Part C is the key section here.

While the government is forbidden to enforce COVID-19 vaccine passports, it lets businesses off with a loophole.

The only punishment for businesses enforcing COVID-19 vaccine passports would be not receiving grant money or entering a contract with the government.

And not many businesses would fit that category.

So, the vast majority of companies in Texas could still violate your rights and privacy with this law.

Some people will comment ‘they’re a private company and they can do what they want.’

Private companies don’t have the right to violate health privacy laws or the 4th amendment.

If our governments (federal and state) did their job as outlined by the U.S. Constitution, then they would protect citizens from these violations.

Both from government entities and corporations.

Governor Abbott’s bill falls short to protect Texans from Medical Jim Crow Vaccine Passports.

In comparison, Governor DeSantis’s bill in Florida is what’s needed for every American citizen.

Like we saw last week, corporations like Royal Caribbean won’t be able to get away with the discrimination.

Florida will fine any business or school $5,000 each time it requires a “vaccine passport,
Senate OK needed to send Florida vaccine passport ban to DeSantis’ desk https://t.co/ybwaQZRDBj

— Ewa Nartowska (@ewakentmere) May 1, 2021

Cruise lines cave to Republicans and GOP Republican Gov. DeSantis. You do NOT have to be vaccinated to go on a cruise.

Would you go on a cruise now? https://t.co/TBxBpYEMBL

— Thomas Kaine (@thomaskaine5) June 7, 2021

National File had the exclusive report:

Yesterday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican bracing for a difficult campaign season with strong primary challengers, claimed to sign a bill that would ban private businesses from requiring proof of vaccination – commonly referred to as vaccine passports – from customers. The bill not only fails to live up to Florida’s law in terms of what entities are prohibited from requiring the vaccine passports, but also fails to impose any meaningful penalty to businesses that refuse to comply with the law.

At the beginning of the subsection dealing with the supposed ban of vaccine passports, the law seems to codify Abbott’s previous executive order preventing the Texas government from requiring COVID-19 passports, and then appears to extend the same prohibition to businesses. However, a close reading of the bill reveals that the only penalty for a business requiring vaccine passports is that it will not be eligible for state grants or to contract with the state.

“A business in this state may not require a customer to provide any documentation certifying the customer’s COVID-19 vaccination or post-transmission recovery,” the language in the bill begins, only to continue, “A business that fails to comply with this subsection is not eligible to receive a grant or enter into a contract payable with state funds.” Texas pundits assert that very few Texas businesses fall into this category, and thus the overwhelming majority of Texas employers will be permitted to require vaccine passports with little to no negative repercussions.