Nonprofit group America First Legal (AFL) threatened to sue the health departments of two states for their "racist" policies on Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) treatments. The group accused the health agencies of Minnesota and Utah of considering race and ethnicity to determine if patients are eligible for treatment.
Led by former members of the Trump administration, AFL issued the threat on Jan. 12 in two separate letters. The letters accused the two states' health departments of issuing "blatantly racist, unconstitutional policies" that "direct the ration of medicine based on race and self-selected ethnicity."
The Utah Department of Health's policy subjects COVID-19 patients to a scoring system to determine who is most at risk and eligible to receive treatment. Two points are assigned to the racial/ethnic category. Persons 71 to 80 years old would receive four points, while those 16 to 20 years old would only receive one point.
Patients with the "highest-risk comorbidities" such as diabetes, obesity and an immunocompromised immune system receive two points. An additional one point is granted to those with "other high-risk comorbidities," such as hypertension, chronic liver disease, chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Department of Health reiterated the role of ethnicity and race for monoclonal antibody treatment eligibility in a Jan. 12 document. Citing guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it said that "race and ethnicity alone, apart from other underlying health conditions, may be considered in determining a patient's eligibility."
"The FDA has acknowledged that in addition to certain underlying health conditions, race and ethnicity 'may also place individual patients at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19,'" it added.
AFL's letters to the health departments of Minnesota and Utah said: "Using a patient's skin color or ethnicity … as a basis for deciding who should obtain lifesaving medical treatment is appalling. Directing medical professionals to provide or deny medical care based on immutable characteristics like skin color, without regard to the particular health conditions of the individual patients who are seeking these life-saving treatments, is nothing more than an attempt to establish a racial hierarchy in the provision of life-saving medicine." (Related: Utah, Minnesota face legal action for factoring race, ethnicity in administering COVID-19 drugs.)
Other states also have racist policies for medical treatments
AFL President Stephen Miller said the racist health policies for COVID-19 treatments "decide questions of life and death based on skin color and must be rescinded immediately." He added: "They radically violate federal law, the U.S. Constitution and the sacred principle of equal justice for all. No right is safe if the government can award or deny medical care based on race."
Meanwhile, AFL Vice President and General Counsel Gene Hamilton denounced the policies as "antithetical to everything we stand for as Americans."
"While the allocation of medical treatment based on skin color is not something any American would expect to see in 2022, the American people should understand that this is just another example of the application of 'equity' by the woke and radical left," Hamilton said. "These policies are rooted in Marxist principles and social justice, and demand the use of government power to distribute and redistribute resources not based on equal rights – but based on 'equity.'"
Prior to its threat of legal action against Minnesota and Utah, AFL threatened to sue the health department of New York state for similar racist policies. In a Jan. 3 letter addressed to acting Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett, the group demanded that the policy directing "the rationing of medicine based on race and self-selected ethnicity" be rescinded.
According to AFL, the New York State Department of Health prioritizes "patients who identify as non-white or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity" when it comes to COVID-19 treatments. Such a policy denies "life-saving treatment to constituents who do not fall under these racist requirements," the group added. (Related: Now New York is refusing monoclonal antibodies for white people.)
"New York has recently decided that equity directives will be used to decide who lives and who dies: To determine who receives life-saving medical care based on the color of one's skin or the nationality of one's ancestors. This should appall the conscience of all who claim to care about human rights," Miller said.
Watch the video below of "American Journal" host Harrison Smith sharing his experience being subjected to racist medical policies.
This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.
MedicalFascism.news has more about hospitals considering race and ethnicity as factors in administering COVID-19 treatments.
Sources include:
Health.State.MN.us [PDF]
WordPress.AFLegal.org 1 [PDF]
WordPress.AFLegal.org 2 [PDF]
WordPress.AFLegal.org 3 [PDF]
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