I have to disagree, because your assessment is outdated and somewhat shallow. My impression is that it doesn't rest on much real programming experience with PHP either.

To stay with the topic, these arguments are in essence a way of trying to hold PHP as a language accountable for functions it exposed in its since long (about a decade ago) deprecated original mysql extension. These functions actually belong to the underlying C library developed by MySQL, and as has been the custom with tons of functionality brought into PHP from elsewhere over the years, the entire library was relayed. The very same functions - e.g. escape_string(), the culprit "luring" users away from parameterization - are still available in Oracle's mysql C library, and are to some extent also available in, for example, the mysql Python connector through its C extension API.

At the time "a fractal of bad design" was published a handful of its talking points were already no longer actual. It got tired and trope-y years ago, and PHP isn't what it was 15 years ago. Referencing the article today is about as valid as regurgitating "classic" 1950s health advice to Ironman triathletes or something.