Alabama Public Service Commissioner Chip Beeker joined the chorus of opposition to President Joe Biden’s federal vaccine mandate on Thursday.
In a letter to Governor Kay Ivey, Beeker said the mandates “go beyond mere acts of federal overreach and extend into the areas of attempting to strip citizens of their freedoms and liberties in choosing for themselves what best fits their health needs.”
Beeker outlined that it was his duty to speak out against the Biden administration policy.
He wrote, “As an elected official in the State of Alabama, it is my privilege to speak up and be the voice for those who elected me to this position. Jobs and livelihoods should never be threatened by an illegal and unauthorized mandate, and it is our duty to protect the citizens of our state. I am deeply appreciative of your firm stance that protects state employees, but I also want to encourage you and extend my support to take steps to further protect the hard-working men and women in the medical field, emergency personnel, universities, corporations, and small businesses in our state. Alabama must pave the way for other states to follow suit.
He concluded his correspondence by recalling the state motto and commending the governor and Alabama’s attorney general for their positions.
“Alabama was founded on the motto of ‘We Dare Defend Our Rights’ and that is what we must do,” Beeker stated. “I am grateful that we have elected officials such as yourself and Attorney General Steve Marshall to stand in the face of adversity and resist this overreach. I stand behind protecting Alabamians of all ages from being forced into taking a vaccine. Our children, their parents and the future of our state depend on the ones in power to protect their medical freedom and their ability to choose. Let’s go forward and help lead the way and overturn this tyranny.”
Attorney General Steve Marshall issued an employer advisory on religious and medical exemptions to vaccination on Thursday. Earlier in the week, Ivey handed down an executive order outlining her opposition to the mandates and asking executive branch officials to assist Marshall in any potential lawsuits against Biden’s mandate.
