AUSTIN, Texas (PNN) - October 13, 2021 - Texas Governor Greg Abbott on October 11 issued an executive order that bans vaccine mandates by any entity in the state, including private employers.

“The COVID-19 vaccine… should remain voluntary and never forced,” Abbott said in a statement upon issuing the order.

The executive order states, “No entity in Texas can compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine by any individual, including an employee or a consumer, who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”

He also added the issue as an agenda to the third special legislative session, which is currently convened until October 19, to give lawmakers the opportunity to pass a law to similar effect.

“The executive order will be rescinded upon the passage of such legislation,” Abbott wrote.

Pretender Joe Biden in September issued an announcement saying his illegitimate regime is seeking to compel private companies with more than 100 employees to have their workers either be vaccinated or tested weekly. He will attempt to impose $13,600 in fines per violation if such a rule becomes effective.

At the time, Abbott called Biden’s move “an assault on private businesses” and said that “Texas is already working to halt this power grab,” joining more than a dozen states in resisting the mandate.

The text of Abbott’s latest executive order, GA-40, reads, “In yet another instance of federal overreach, the (illegitimate) Biden (regime) is now bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas’s continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster. Countless Texans fear losing their livelihoods because they object to receiving a COVID-19 vaccination for reasons of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”

The governor noted in his executive order that the Texas Legislature “has taken care to provide exemptions that allow people to opt out of being forced to take a vaccine for reasons of conscience or medical reasons.”

Abbott previously in June signed into law a measure that bans government entities and private businesses from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition for service or entry. Businesses that don’t comply with the law will not be able to enter any state contracts and will be ineligible to receive a grant.