Republican Governor of Texas Greg AbbottOn Friday, the ban on wearing masks encountered a brief setback in the law, and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton quickly appealed the court’s decision to block the ban on several major school districts.
Travis County Magistrate Catherine Mauzy approved a temporary injunction against Abbott’s ban in 19 different school districts, including school districts in major cities such as Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Fort Worth. Paxton immediately appealed to temporarily prevent the ban from taking effect. Austin American politician.
Moz said that Abbott did not have the legal power to issue a mandatory ban on masks “through an executive order,” and stated that the ban “threatens overwhelming public schools and may lead to more extreme measures, such as schools that have already started in Texas.” Suspension. School district.”
Gabriel Aponte/Getty The picture shows the Concordia Summit/Getty
Paxton’s appeal may eventually result in Moz’s ruling being overturned by the All-Republican State of Texas Supreme Court, Several similar rulings that prevented the injunction have been overturned recently.
On Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked the San Antonio school’s mask authorization and overturned the lower court’s ruling, which allowed the Abbott’s ban to remain in effect. Paxton appealed the decision to maintain the mask injunction in Dallas County a day ago.
Abbott issued a ban on wearing masks in May and July of this year. However, in the context of the surge of COVID-19 last summer, he forced to wear masks across the state. This move was unpopular, so much so that he was condemned by the Republicans in multiple counties.
This summer, the nationwide surge in COVID-19 caused by variants of Delta dealt a particularly severe blow to Texas. The hospitalization rate of infected people has exceeded the level of last summer and has strained the state’s health care system, prompting Abbott to issue an order to authorize out-of-state staff to assist in the response to the epidemic.
In any case, the governor’s recent opposition to wearing masks has not wavered. Abbott said in a statement issued earlier this month that “the way forward depends on personal responsibility, not government requirements.” He also issued an order specifically banning the use of the COVID-19 vaccine, while retaining authorization for other vaccines.
Opponents of the Abbott ban have vowed to continue the legal battle, especially where schools are involved. Many people expressed concern that the influx of children hospitalized with COVID-19 may push the hospital beyond its limits, and masks may be the only other virus prevention measure because children under 12 are not eligible for vaccination.
President Joe Biden Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education directed the governor to take action against governors who tried to prevent schools from issuing public health measures for COVID-19, such as mask injunctions.
Texas was warned on Friday that the ban may violate the Disability Education Act. A disability rights organization also filed a federal lawsuit against Abbott and the Texas Department of Education Mike Molas over the injunction.
Weekly newspaper Contact the Paxton office for comments.
