A bill aimed at getting rid of all mandates and discrimination that pertained to vaccine and immunity status may have failed to make progress in the 87th Regular Legislative Session, but State Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) has vowed to keep pushing for the legislation he introduced.
Senate Bill 1669 was filed by Hall in March, but never made it out of committee onto the floor for a vote.
“Though we did not succeed this session in passing the protections which Senate Bill 1669 would have provided, the battle is not over,” Hall wrote in a post on his Facebook page. “I will never stop fighting for the medical freedom of Texans.”
While the legislation was being reviewed by a committee, lawmakers opted to limit the scope of the potential law to only include COVID-19 vaccines and any others that have not received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
“In the May 6 hearing, Texans came to Austin from all over the state to testify in support of the bill,” Hall wrote in the post. “The Committee also heard informative testimony from Texas doctors who have experience treating patients on the frontlines of the pandemic, and who shared their concerns about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines.”
Hall said he’d be asking for the bill to be included during the 87th Legislative Special Session Call.
“I will continue to fight against vaccine mandates and discrimination, and I hope for future opportunities to pursue legislation which will protect Texans’ freedom to make decisions about their health—without any fear of coercion,” he wrote in the post.
SB 1669 relates “to prohibited discrimination regarding vaccination status and mandates for receiving or participating in the administration of vaccines and authorizing administrative penalties.”
In April, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting governmental entities from establishing “vaccine passport” requirements.
The CDC reported that Texas is ranked 37th nationally for vaccinations per person.