On Monday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) signed an executive order advising state agencies not to enforce President Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
“The federal government’s outrageous overreach has simply given us no other option, but to begin taking action, which is why I am issuing this executive order to fight these egregious COVID-19 vaccine mandates,” Ivey said in a statement.
“Alabamians — and Americans alike — should and must have the choice to roll up their sleeves to get this shot and certainly not forced by the government,” she asserted. “While President Biden laughs at the idea of protecting your freedoms, I will continue fighting for Alabama businesses and their employees.”
Last month, Biden announced that all employers with 100 or more employees should require their employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID or test negative at least once a week. Failure to comply would result in a $14,000 fine.
According to The Christian Post, the federal vaccine mandate also calls for healthcare workers, federal contractors, and most federal workers to be fully vaccinated lest they face penalties.
Ivey, however, rejected the approach of the COVID-19 vaccine mandates and instead suggested that “the best ways to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations in Alabama is through education, transparency, communication and persuasion — not government coercion.”
“Effective immediately, no agency, department, board, commission, or other entity within the executive branch of state government shall, under color of state law, seek to impose a penalty on any business or individual for noncompliance with any federally imposed requirement that has the purpose or effect of (a) forcing an individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccination or (b) requiring a business to force its employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccination,” the executive order states in part.
“To the extent any such entity is required or compelled to impose such a penalty as a result of federal law, the entity shall take all practical steps to notify the affected business or individual that the State of Alabama does not approve, condone, or otherwise endorse the imposition of such a penalty.”
Ivey’s executive order comes after 24 Republican state attorneys general vowed to take legal action last month against Biden’s vaccine mandate.
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
