Do No Harm (organization)

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Do No Harm is a United States medical and policy advocacy group. The group opposes gender-affirming care for minors and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in medicine and medical education, including race-conscious medical school admissions and other identity-based considerations regarding health care decision-making. [1] Do No Harm lobbies state legislatures to ban gender-affirming care for youth. It argues that efforts to recruit a more diverse group of medical practitioners will result in lower standards of care, and that diversity training within the health care system places politics ahead of care.

Contents

History

The group was founded in 2022 by Stanley Goldfarb, a retired kidney specialist and former associate dean of curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, with funding from Joseph Edelman. [2] [3] The group's initial focus was opposing anti-racism in healthcare education and hiring. [4]

The group was formed to "[protect] patients and physicians from woke healthcare", according to an April 2022 press release. [5]

In 2023, the group incorporated a second group, Do No Harm Action, which operates as a lobbying arm. [2]

Gender-affirming care for minors

According to the Associated Press, the group by 2023 had "evolved into a significant leader in statehouses seeking to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youths". [2] It developed model legislation state legislatures could introduce to ban such care; by May 2023 the model legislation had been introduced in Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, and West Virginia. [2] [5]

According to the Associated Press, the model legislation has been criticized for "using technical medical terminology as political rhetoric to scare people". [2] According to Columbia University's Jack Drescher, editor of the gender dysphoria section of the American Psychiatric Association's 2022 diagnostic manual update, the model legislation language is "designed to inflame". [4]

Medical school and health care diversity

According to Goldfarb, efforts by medical schools to recruit a diverse group of students mean "we're not going to look for the best and the brightest. We're going to look for people who are just OK to make sure we have the right mixture of ethnic groups in our medical schools." [2]

In 2023, Do No Harm issued a report titled Racial Concordance in Medicine: The Return of Segregation which found "no relationship between race or ethnicity concordance and the quality of communication, and inconclusive evidence for patient outcomes." Racial concordance in medicine refers to matching the races of physicians and patients. [1] [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identity—their personal sense of their own gender—and their sex assigned at birth. The term replaced the previous diagnostic label of gender identity disorder (GID) in 2013 with the release of the diagnostic manual DSM-5. The condition was renamed to remove the stigma associated with the term disorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Medical Association</span> Organization

The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 in 2022.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthcare in China</span> Overview of the health care system in China

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Florida</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Florida have federal protections, but many face legal difficulties on the state level that are not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity became legal in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas on June 26, 2003, although the state legislature has not repealed its sodomy law. Same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since January 6, 2015. Discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations is outlawed following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County. In addition, several cities and counties, comprising about 55 percent of Florida's population, have enacted anti-discrimination ordinances. These include Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and West Palm Beach, among others. Conversion therapy is also banned in a number of cities in the state, mainly in the Miami metropolitan area, but has been struck down by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In September 2023, Lake Worth Beach, Florida became an official "LGBT sanctuary city" to protect and defend LGBT rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Missouri</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Missouri face some legal challenges not experienced by other residents throughout the state, excluding St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Missouri, in accordance with 2003's Lawrence v. Texas decision.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas House Bill 1570 (2021)</span> 2021 Arkansas state law

Arkansas House Bill 1570, also known as the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act or Act 626, is a 2021 law in the state of Arkansas that bans gender-affirming medical procedures for transgender people under 18, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and sex reassignment surgery. The law also bans the use of public funds for and prohibits insurance from covering gender transition procedures, while doctors who provide treatment in violation of the ban can be sued for damages or professionally sanctioned. The measure makes Arkansas the first U.S. state to make gender-affirming medical care illegal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genspect</span> Organization opposing transgender rights

Genspect is an international group founded in June 2021 by psychotherapist Stella O'Malley that has been described as gender-critical. Genspect opposes gender-affirming care, as well as social and medical transition for transgender people. Genspect opposes allowing transgender people under 25 years old to transition, and opposes laws that would ban conversion therapy on the basis of gender identity. Genspect also endorses the unproven concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), which proposes a subclass of gender dysphoria caused by peer influence and social contagion. ROGD has been rejected by major medical organisations due to its lack of evidence and likelihood to cause harm by stigmatizing gender-affirming care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transphobia in the United States</span> Prejudice against Americans of other gender identity than assigned at birth

Transphobia in the United States has changed over time. Understanding and acceptance of transgender people have both decreased and increased during the last few decades depending on the details of the issues which have been facing the public. Various governmental bodies in the United States have enacted anti-transgender legislation. Social issues in the United States also reveal a level of transphobia. Because of transphobia, transgender people in the U.S. face increased levels of violence and intimidation. Cisgender people can also be affected by transphobia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine</span> Organization opposing transgender rights

The Society For Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) is a non-profit organization that is known for its opposition to gender-affirming care for transgender youth and for engaging in political lobbying. The group routinely cites the unproven concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria and has falsely claimed that conversion therapy techniques are only practiced on the basis of sexual orientation rather than gender identity. SEGM is often cited in anti-transgender legislation and court cases, sometimes filing court briefs. It is not recognized as a scientific organization by the international medical community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Senate Bill 254 (2023)</span> Proposed legislation

Florida Senate Bill 254 is a law that prohibits gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18, places restrictions on adult patients accessing this care, and allows the state to take temporary custody of children who may be receiving gender-affirming care now or in the future. In June 2024, a judge permanently blocked the law from taking effect.

Miriam Grossman is an American psychiatrist and activist associated with anti-LGBT and conservative advocacy organizations. She is an opponent of gender affirming medical care for transgender people, and opposes sex education in schools, which she describes as a "marxist approach to human development".

References

  1. 1 2 Andrews, Michelle (6 July 2023). "How Health Care May Be Affected by the High Court's Affirmative Action Ruling". KFF Health News. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McMillan, Jeff; Kruesi, Kimberlee (2023-05-20). "Meet the influential new player on transgender health bills". AP News . Archived from the original on 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  3. Flood, Brian (2022-04-19). "Do No Harm aims to keep liberal ideology out of healthcare: 'Physicians are being pushed to discriminate'". Fox News . Archived from the original on 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  4. 1 2 "Transgender health bills often came from a handful of far-right interest groups, AP finds". Chicago Sun-Times . 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  5. 1 2 Balevic, Katie. "Do No Harm, a group of 'medical professionals' fighting 'woke healthcare,' is behind many anti-trans laws". Business Insider . Archived from the original on 2023-06-06. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  6. Watrobski, Kristina (28 December 2023). "Major medical association slammed for offering 'segregated' scholarships to students". WPMI. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  7. Morgan, Laura (19 December 2023). "Do No Harm Releases New Report: "Racial Concordance in Medicine: The Return of Segregation"". Do No Harm. Retrieved 18 June 2024.