The Odessa City Council in Texas voted on Sept. 12 to ban the enforcement of any COVID-19 mandates implemented by the state or federal government in an effort to stave off what officials say are a violation of citizens’ freedoms.
A total of six council members voted to pass the resolution—introduced by City Council Member Chris Hanie—while one member abstained.
“I’m asking you guys to ... take a look at what was going on before all of this the last time that they shut everything down,” Mr. Hanie said during Tuesday’s vote.
The council member went on to note how the mandates previously implemented during the pandemic had prevented citizens from working, specifically pointing to oil workers who were unable to make a living amid the lockdowns.
“We don’t want this again,” he said. “We make our living here on the oil field.”
Republican state Rep. Brian Harrison, who previously served as chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Trump administration, also voiced his support for the ban during Tuesday’s meeting.
“COVID vaccine mandates destroy medical freedom, they are not justified on public health grounds, they are inconsistent with informed consent, they have destroyed careers, and they have no place in the great and freedom-loving state of Texas,” Mr. Harrison said.
City Taking ‘Historic Action’
The Republican went on to state that he and other officials, during his time at HHS, had made a point of not making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory, noting that he believes the shots should always remain voluntary.“However since then, you witnessed and I witnessed something that’s been heartbreaking and infuriating, which is that a program that we designed to save lives be turned into a program that destroys liberty and destroys medical freedom,” he said.
“I hope that every city and county not just in Texas but everywhere, every state that has not yet protected the medical freedom of their citizens, that their eyes are turned to Odessa, Texas, tonight and to see the brave, bold, courageous, and I would say historic action that you’re taking here tonight, so I couldn’t be more proud to be here,” Mr. Harrison said.
‘Unquantifiable Damage’ to Citizens
“Unquantifiable damage was done to the citizens of the City of Odessa, mentally, emotionally, and financially, by the imposition of such overreaching government-imposed mandates,” the resolution continues. “Mandates, such as masking mandates, violate the free conduct a citizen should expect to enjoy. Compulsory vaccination mandates, imposed by government or business, violate a citizen’s right to control over their own body.”“Mandates, such as compulsory lockdown mandates, imposed by an overreaching government violate a citizen’s right to freedom and liberty guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Texas,” the resolution adds.
Under the proposal, the city will not enforce any COVID-19-related mandate that requires citizens to wear face masks, isolate at home, or for businesses to alter or cease operations.
It also bans individuals from being forced to get vaccinated in order to keep their jobs or “otherwise enjoy the conveniences of the City” if they do not wish to have the shots.
Individuals may also not “take an adverse action or impose a penalty of any kind” against residents who refuse to get vaccinated, the proposal states.
The vote on the COVID-19 mandate ban in Odessa comes as COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Texas, with the most recent data from the Texas Department of State Health Services showing more than 30,100 new cases reported between Aug. 27 and Sept. 2.
However, Mr. Haines noted Tuesday that cases are not increasing in Odessa.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has already signed into law various pieces of legislation aimed at banning various COVID-19 mandates.
In June, the governor signed into law Senate Bill 29, which bans local governments from requiring COVID-related masks and vaccines or shutting down private businesses and schools to prevent the spread of the virus.
