Now that lockdowns and other restrictions are finally dissipating across much of the United States, many on the left have demanded that vaccine passports become mandatory for people to participate in public life.
One Republican just made it clear that isn’t going to happen in her state. On Monday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill known as SB 267 into law, the Washington Examiner reported.
Under the law’s provisions, both local governments and private businesses are prohibited from making proof of vaccination a condition for receiving service.
Ivey: “Voluntary” vaccinations only
“Since the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, both [state health officer] Dr. Harris and I have said that we would not mandate vaccines in the state of Alabama,” Ivey said in a statement.
“I am supportive of a voluntary vaccine and by signing this bill into law, I am only further solidifying that conviction,” the governor added.
The governor also noted that she had herself been vaccinated and was “glad for the peace of mind it brings.”
With the new law, Alabama joins Florida, Wyoming, and South Dakota in passing legislation to ban the requirement of vaccine passports, the Examiner noted.
“We’re not going to mandate”
At a press conference earlier this month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) touted his state’s vaccine passport law, which takes effect on July 1. “I think that’s the evidence-based thing to do,” DeSantis said. He added that he would sign an executive order mirroring the law’s terms until it takes effect.
“I think folks that are saying that they need to be policing people at this point, if you’re saying that, you really are saying you don’t believe in the vaccines, you don’t believe in the data, you don’t believe in the science. We’ve embraced the vaccines. We’ve embraced the science on it,” the governor said.
“You have a right to participate in society, go to a restaurant, movie, a ballgame, all these things without having to divulge this type of information,” he continued.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) sounded a similar note last month, tweeting, “We’ve resisted government mandates, and SD is stronger for it.”
“I encourage all South Dakotans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but we are not going to mandate any such activity,” she added. “And we are not going to restrict freedom with un-American policies like vaccine passports.”
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