FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 10, 2016
For further information contact:
Pete Thomson, chief communications officer
Tel: 703-665-4786Email: [email protected]
Nicole Damari, co-president of local AMSA chapter
Tel: 480-215-1131 Email: [email protected]
North Carolina Health Professionals Speak Out Against Discriminatory House Bill 2: Harmful to Public Health
Raleigh, N.C. – On May 13 at 4 p.m. at the North Carolina State Capitol, doctors, nurses, and health professions students will deliver a petition signed by 589 current and future health care providers in North Carolina calling for the repeal of House Bill 2 (HB2). The petition, sponsored by the American Medical Student Association, has drawn support from more than just students. Among the signatories are 142 practicing doctors, nurses, and pharmacists from across the state who are deeply concerned about the bill’s impact on the health of North Carolinians.
The discriminatory law will have serious consequences for the health of the transgender population in the state. Already, there has been a documented increase in calls to transgender suicide hotlines. According to the Williams Institute and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 41 percent of transgender individuals attempt suicide at some point in their lives, compared to just 4.6 percent of the general population. Additionally, the National Transgender Discrimination Survey reports that 35 percent of transgender youth in grades K-12 experience physical assault due to their gender presentation. Karan Ahluwalia, a first-year medical student and head of AMSA’s gender and sexuality committee, states, “The psychological violence experienced by queer individuals in North Carolina since the passage of HB2 has been staggering. How absurd is it that queer people have to fight just to live without the threat of violence from the state? That they aren’t even guaranteed a life free from active, state-sanctioned discrimination based on who they are?”
HB2 has also overturned longstanding anti-discrimination protections in Greensboro and Orange County. In 2013 alone, the Department of Labor accepted more than 1,430 cases of alleged workplace discrimination in North Carolina. Veterans, who already face a disproportionate burden of physical and mental health issues, are among those most affected by employment discrimination, further exacerbating financial and health disparities within this population.
Additionally, HB2 prohibits local governments from raising the minimum wage. According to the American Public Health Association, increasing the minimum wage is linked to better health outcomes, particularly for children, women, minorities, and queer individuals—groups that are already disproportionately impacted by economic discrimination.
About the American Medical Student Association: Founded in 1950, AMSA is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. To learn more about AMSA, our strategic priorities, or joining the organization, please visit us online at www.amsa.org.
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