A new California law, which has passed in the legislature and now ends up at the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom for signature, is causing outrage among doctors, citizens and free speech advocates.
The bill, AB2098, will define any questioning or critique of the COVID-19 regime as “unprofessional conduct,” threatening to strip California doctors of their license to practice medicine in the state.
“MEDICAL POLICE STATE”
“#AB2098 would turn CA into a medical police state where POLITICIANS practice medicine, not doctors, where any doctor perceived to disagree or even QUESTION @GavinNewsom or state (who have been wrong - a LOT!) will never again practice. How’s THAT for loss of trust in healthcare?” California ophthalmologist Dr. Houman David Hemmati wrote on Twitter.
The bill essentially makes “major news outlets” the arbiters of truth regarding COVID-19: “Major news outlets have reported that some of the most dangerous propagators of inaccurate information regarding the COVID-19 vaccines are licensed health care professionals,” text in the bill reads.
The law will make it possible for the Medical Board of California, appointed by the governor, to take licenses away from medical professionals, preventing them from practicing in California.
“CORRUPTION OF SCIENCE”
"This law underscores how politics have infiltrated medicine at every single level, the corruption of the scientific method and science in general. Science is about disagreement, about argument. It’s about presenting hypotheses and then prove or disprove them. The whole idea of science is to have a vigorous exchange of ideas and open debate. This has in effect now been removed. When Fauci said that to criticize him was to criticize science – that was probably one of the most arrogant and narcissistic statements I’ve ever heard,” says Dr. Jeff Barke, a physician in Newport Beach, California.
But there’s still some doubt as to whether Governor Newsom will sign the bill into law. “As many people have noticed, Newsom is likely planning to run for President. He’s now trying to portray himself as a moderate. So it’s not yet clear whether he’s going to sign this bill. But if he does, there will be immediate lawsuits, because this is an unconstitutional law, trying to take physicians First Amendment rights away,” Dr. Barke explains.
