As a wave of violent threats targeting medical professionals, children’s health care facilities, and parents and families continues across the country, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Medical Association (AMA) and Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) today sent a joint letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice calling on the authorities to investigate these violent threats.
The organizations, which collectively represent millions of doctors, also called for technology organizations to take concrete steps against the wave of disinformation and hate-filled speech on social media and other communication platforms. The call echoes a recent report from the Human Rights Campaign and the Center for Countering Digital Hate that found that anti-LGBTQ+ content on social media was largely driven by a small group of extremist politicians and their allies who together are driving a coordinated and concerted campaign to attack LGBTQ+ kids.
In response to the letter, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President, Programs, Research & Training Jay Brown issued the following statement:
“This moment needs to be a wakeup call for everyone with the power to step in here and halt the violent threats and abuse targeting caring medical professionals, loving parents and transgender children. This situation requires a coordinated effort from local, state and federal authorities. And it should be a wake-up call for the tech companies that have done far too little, far too slowly, to address the wave of focused hate and disinformation on their social media platforms. What starts with a post or a tweet quickly spirals into bomb threats, harassing phone calls, death threats and more, and the pace of it has been relentless. This is having a chilling effect on life-saving and evidence-based care – care that improves mental health outcomes and leads to a better quality of life for those who receive it.
“The people conducting this wave of threatened violence are well-organized and funded, and countering it will take a concerted effort by the authorities and the acknowledgement of social media platforms that they’ve done far too little, even as much of this hateful behavior has been organized and conducted right in the open.”
Excerpts from the letter from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association and Children’s Hospital Association:
“From Boston to Akron to Nashville to Seattle, children's hospitals, academic health systems, and physicians are being targeted and threatened for providing evidence-based health care. These attacks have not only made it difficult and dangerous for institutions and practices to provide this care, they have also disrupted many other services to families seeking care.”
“These coordinated attacks threaten federally protected rights to health care for patients and their families. The attacks are rooted in an intentional campaign of disinformation, where a few high-profile users on social media share false and misleading information targeting individual physicians and hospitals, resulting in a rapid escalation of threats, harassment, and disruption of care across multiple jurisdictions.”
“Our organizations are dedicated to the health and well-being of all children and adolescents. We are committed to the full spectrum of patient care–from prevention to critical care. We stand with the physicians, nurses, mental health specialists, and other health care professionals providing evidence based health care, including gender-affirming care, to children and adolescents.”
