Ron DeSantis to Sign Executive Order Protecting Parental Decisions About Masks: ‘Fairest Way to Do It’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Friday he will sign an executive order issuing emergency rules protecting parents’ rights regarding their children and masks.

“Very soon I’ll be signing an executive order which directs the Florida Department of Education and Department of Health to issue emergency rules protecting the rights of parents to make this decision about wearing masks for their children. We think that that’s the most fair way to do it,” he said during a press conference in Cape Coral:

The governor continued:

I have young kids. My wife and I are not gonna do the masks with the kids. We never have. I want to see my kids smiling. I want them having fun. Look, my kids are a little younger, but I can tell you, whatever you think of masks, you gotta wear it properly. My kids ain’t gonna wear that thing properly. We know that.

I wouldn’t want to do that, but at the same time, look, if a parent really feels that this is something that’s important for their kid, we’re not stopping that. They absolutely have every right to equip their student with whatever types of masks that they want and have them go school if they believe that that’s a protection that’s important for their children. I think that’s the fairest way to do it: to let the parents have the decision. It would not be fair if we told parents who want the kids to wear masks they weren’t allowed to do it. But it’s certainly not fair to force parents who don’t believe the masks are good for their kids to force them to have to send their kids in masks.

Last week, DeSantis affirmed his administration will not mandate schools require kids to wear masks when they return for in-person learning in the fall, Breitbart News reported.

“We want kids to be able to be kids,” he noted. “We need them to be able to breathe. It’s terribly uncomfortable for them to do it. There’s not very much science behind it.”

During an interview Tuesday on the Mark Levin Show, the governor said President Joe Biden’s administration wants kindergartners “muzzled with a mask,” but regarding people crossing the border illegally, “they don’t give a damn about COVID at that point.”