South Carolina Republicans in the House sent a letter to the governor of Palmetto state asking him to ban the implementation of “vaccine passports” in the state.
Representative Nancy Mace, RS.C., led her colleagues from the South Carolina Republican Party House in a letter to Republican Governor Henry McMaster over the weekend, asking him to ban the requirement for COVID-19 vaccine credentials to citizens who do their daily business.
Mace and the group asked the governor to “do everything in their power under the law to prohibit ‘vaccine passports’ from being required to enter, enjoy and move in our beautiful state.”
“The use of ‘vaccine passports’ to restrict trade is a threat to both personal freedom and medical privacy,” wrote the lawmakers. “We are committed to fighting this violation at the federal level and we urge you to do the same by working with the Attorney General [Alan] Wilson at the state level. “
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The group wrote that it believes that requiring state citizens to provide vaccine passports to do their business “constitutes a violation of the privacy of our citizens and, specifically, a likely violation of federal HIPAA law.”
They also wrote that the “privacy concerns” surrounding vaccine passports could “create more polarization around the COVID-19 vaccine” instead of convincing more people to get the vaccine, “impeding efforts to obtain collective immunity and prolonging the pandemic “.
“In our view, ‘vaccine passports’ are a terrible approach to controlling this pandemic or the economy and, instead, violate the rights of our citizens,” wrote the lawmakers. “We ask that you fight against this with all the tools of the state government, including preventing state agencies from cooperating or coordinating with the federal government in the use of potential ‘vaccine passports’.”
Four of Mace South Carolina’s five Republican colleagues – representatives Jeff Duncan, Ralph Norman, Joe Wilson and William Timmons – signed the letter. Republican Congressman Tom Rice and the majority of the House Whip Jim Clyburn, the only Democratic member of the state’s Congress, did not do so.
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When questioned by Fox News, McMaster’s office pointed to a tweet that the governor had posted the day before the letter was sent, in which he protested “vaccine passports” and declared that the practice “would not take place in South Carolina. South”.
“President Biden and the Democrats want to force Americans to present a ‘vaccine passport’ on demand, but are opposed to presenting an identity to vote,” wrote McMaster. “Vaccine passports will not take place in South Carolina.”
“The very idea is anti-American in essence,” added the governor.
The letter from the representatives came after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, banned passports for vaccines in the State of the Sun via an executive order last week.
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Specifically, Florida companies are not allowed to require customers or clients to produce “documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-transmission recovery to gain access, entry or service to the business”.
In addition, Florida government agencies are prohibited from using “vaccine passports” and other types of certification, as well as sharing or publishing a person’s “COVID-19 vaccination record or similar health information”.