Austin Folkertsma
campus editor

Gov. Greg Abbott has sparked conversation these past couple of months with his position on masks and abortion. NE students and faculty weigh in on their opinions of the governor.

“I think the six-week abortion ban is a direct attack on our right to bodily anatomy,” NE student Tori Wilson said. “The fact that he has banned mask mandates because it should be a matter of personal choice and then immediately followed it with this new policy is wildly hypocritical. If you can claim ‘my body, my choice’ regarding a major public health issue, you should be able to make the same choice regarding a personal medical procedure.”
NE student Aris Longino said they worry the way Abbott governs can be dangerous because of the way he downplays a dangerous pandemic, which they said can ultimately hurt a lot of people.

“I don’t like him,” Longino said. “By not enforcing mask mandates and even making the decision to not allow schools to mandate masks at all, he is putting thousands of children’s lives in danger.”

It’s scary how many people think what he’s doing is good and believe COVID isn’t an issue when most people in the ICU today are unvaccinated, they said.

“Yes, masks in Texas’ heat are unpleasant, but it’s not going to kill anyone to wear a piece of fabric over their mouths for a couple of hours,” Longino said. “COVID, on the other hand, has killed thousands in America alone.”

NE student Lauryn Mann said she thinks Abbott is someone who pays attention to polls and adjusts his policies and actions accordingly. Because many people in Texas are anti-abortion and anti-mask, and those are the two big-ticket items he’s tackled recently that have drawn the applause of many conservatives, she said.

“Only judging based on these two things, one might think that Abbott is a hardcore conservative, but his actions don’t always support that,” Mann said. “For example, he first opposed and then supported the only Republican state representative from Texas who was pro-abortion. He flips and flops like a fish out of water. For that reason, I don’t entirely trust him.”

Mann said he should stick to his guns and be consistent about it, especially since he is in a position of power, regardless of whether she agrees with all of his policies.

“A part of his success has no doubt been because of his ability to play it by ear and adjust himself according to popular opinion,” she said. “There might be a part of him that actually cares about people and what they want, but I think it’s more about the exhibition than the act if that makes sense.”