Both Abbott and Biden are Wrong about Vaccine Mandates

In an executive order last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott prohibited private businesses from requiring a “vaccine passport” for employees and customers. President Joe Biden wants to force businesses with more than 100 employees to require vaccines. Despite these different approaches to vaccine mandates, Abbott and Biden are in agreement on the fundamental issue. When it comes to vaccine mandates, both believe that individuals should not be free to choose.

Few people object to a restaurant that declares, “No shirt, no service.” A business owner has a right to establish the terms and conditions by which others—both employees and customers—must abide while on his premises. Both employees and patrons can accept those terms and conditions or go elsewhere. Abbott’s order prohibits this. Instead, businesses must abide by the dictates of the state government.

Similarly, Biden’s mandate removes freedom of choice from large employers. Large employers have no voice in whether to require vaccination or not. They have no freedom to choose the best option for their business, their customers, their employees. Instead, businesses must abide by the dictates of the federal government.

Some claim that there is no difference between a vaccine mandate established by government and one established by a private business. A vaccine mandate, it is argued, forces individuals to get vaccinated no matter who issues it. Such claims evade the essential difference between government and a private business.

Government is an agency of force. When government establishes a mandate, individuals must obey or else. And or else means, go to jail, be fined, or both. When a business establishes a mandate, individuals who disobey are not threatened with jail or fines. They can simply go to a business with terms and conditions more to their liking.

A vaccine mandate issued by a business is not an act of force. If a restaurant requires male patrons to wear a jacket and tie, no reasonable person would claim that he is forced to wear a jacket and tie in order to dine at the restaurant. Wearing a jacket and tie is a condition of entering the establishment, and each individual is free to choose to abide by that standard or dine elsewhere. The same principle applies to vaccines.

An individual has a right to abstain from being vaccinated for any reason. That is his choice. A business has a right to require vaccination. That is the owner’s choice. Abbott’s mandate removes that choice from business owners. They are not able to set the terms and conditions that they think will best protect their employees and customers. The same is true of Biden’s mandate. Instead, businesses must abide by the dictates of the government.

With these two conflicting mandates, large employers in Texas will be violating the law no matter what they do. If they require employees to be vaccinated, they are violating Abbott’s order. If they obey Abbott’s order and do not require vaccination, they are violating Biden’s order. This is the kind of inevitable contradiction that results when government prohibits freedom of choice.

If the facts are on the side of government officials, then they should present those facts and allow individuals to judge how that information comports with their own values. If the facts are on their side, they would not have to resort to coercive measures to encourage the “right” behavior. By their very nature, the dictates issued by both Abbott and Biden are “one-size-fits all” policies that make acting on an alternative view illegal.

Some individuals may want to only enter businesses that have a vaccine mandate, while others may not care. Some businesses may want to cater only to customers who have been vaccinated, while others may not care. Abbott’s order prevents both individuals and businesses from making such decisions.

Biden’s mandate prevents businesses from developing policies that they believe will protect employees, including those who don’t want to get vaccinated. For example, a business might be able to operate with no close contact between employees or customers. Or a business may have employees who are always outside, such as farm workers and many utility repair technicians. Biden’s directive prohibits both the employer and the employee from deciding what precautions are acceptable.

Despite taking different stances on vaccine mandates, both Abbott and Biden are wrong. They should not be dictating vaccine policies. They should be protecting our freedom to choose.