Michael Siegel: Why Did Wisconsin Physician and Emergency Physician Groups Combine with the NRA to Fight Universal Background Checks in Wisconsin?
They say that politics makes
strange bedfellows, and here we have a perfect example of that. Two of the
major physician groups in Wisconsin—the Wisconsin Medical PAC and the Wisconsin
Emergency Medicine PAC—joined the NRA in financially supporting the
gubernatorial campaign of Scott Walker over his challenger, Tony Evers, who was
opposed by the NRA primarily because he supports state legislation that would
require universal background checks for gun purchases in Wisconsin. Despite the
best efforts of the NRA and these Wisconsin physician organizations, Evers
defeated Walker and so the prospect of meaningful firearm violence prevention
legislation in Wisconsin remains alive.
In addition to the NRA, which
gave Governor Walker an A+ rating in 2014, other major contributors to his
gubernatorial reelection campaign for the 2018 cycle, according to an open
secrets
run by the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, included the Wisconsin Medical PAC,
which represents the Wisconsin Medical Society, and the Wisconsin Emergency
Medicine PAC, which represents the Wisconsin chapter of the American College of
Emergency Physicians (ACEP).
Given that physician
organizations such as the American College of Emergency Physicians, have been
boasting about their commitment to preventing firearm violence and that
individual physicians are orchestrating a campaign (#ThisIsOurLane) to convince
the public that gun violence prevention is appropriately in our domain, it is
shocking to see that behind the scenes, these physician organizations have been
fighting against the very causes they purport to champion. While ACEP, for
example, has endorsed universal background checks, Wisconsin ACEP has been
working against the implementation of this policy by contributing to the NRA A+
rated Scott Walker, who Wisconsin ACEP knows would never sign such legislation.
And while most major national physician groups purport to champion gun violence
prevention policies, the Wisconsin Medical Society has also worked behind the
scenes to help ensure that these policies never see the light of day in the
state of Wisconsin.
What could possibly explain
this level of hypocrisy?
As I teach my public health
students, when you see organizations sacrificing their stated principles like
this, it usually amounts to one thing: money. In fact, the major reason why
physician organizations in Wisconsin and throughout the country are supporting
NRA-backed candidates is that at the end of the day, these candidates will
protect physician salaries by opposing wholesale adoption of universal health
coverage or mandated insurance coverage systems that might otherwise pose a
threat. And clearly, these groups are placing a higher priority on protecting
physician salaries than on fighting gun violence.
By the way, I have no problem
with that decision. I do not begrudge anyone or any organization the right to
place a high priority on self-protection of their financial well-being.
HOWEVER, what I do not accept is for those organizations to make such a
decision and then tell the public that they are working to fight gun violence.
You can’t have it both ways. Either you make fighting gun violence a priority,
or you don’t. And if you don’t, then you can’t come out here and tell the
public that you are a public health champion when it comes to preventing gun
violence.
If gun violence prevention is
truly “our lane,” then in 2019, there is a course of action that every national
and state physician organization should take. And every physician who is
promoting the #ThisIsOurLane movement should put pressure on their national
organizations and state chapters to take this action.
The action is simple: pledge
to never again make financial contributions to any political candidate who
takes NRA money. Divest from NRA-backed candidates. This would send a powerful
message to the public. It would show that medical organizations are willing to
put their money where their mouth is. It would demonstrate that physician
organizations will no longer act like hypocrites and say one thing while doing
the exact opposite behind the scenes. Most importantly, it would have a
profound effect on the NRA’s ability to influence public policy.
Federal policymakers receive
more money from medical and physician organizations combined then they do from
the NRA. If it became clear to federal candidates that by taking NRA money,
they would be sacrificing their ability to receive any donations from physician
groups, they would seriously think twice about accepting that money. The
physician groups have a tremendous amount of leverage with their campaign contributions.
This is why I am working with
several other physicians to initiate a campaign in 2019 to encourage all
physician organizations to pledge to discontinue financial contributions to
candidates who take NRA money.
This idea is not a new one. Dr.
Joshua Sharfstein, a former Baltimore City health commissioner, state of
Maryland health department secretary, and deputy FDA commissioner, who is now a
Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, published a
paper with his father – Dr. Steven Sharfstein – in 1994, criticizing
the American Medical Association for contributing to federal candidates who
opposed handgun regulation, supported federal subsidies to promote tobacco
sales, and promoted a ban on abortion counseling at federally funded clinics.
Dr. Sharfstein went on to write an article promoting divestment of physician
PAC contributions from political candidates who took money from Big Tobacco.
If we as physicians want to
be able to sincerely claim that gun violence prevention is our lane, then the
first step is to ensure that the organizations that represent us – all national
and state-level physician associations – stop giving money to politicians who
are financially backed by the NRA and who we know will oppose any and all gun
violence prevention policies. Enough is enough. We can’t have it both ways any
longer.
Michael Siegel, MD, MPH
Professor
Department of Community
Health Sciences
Boston University School of
Public Health
801 Massachusetts Avenue, 3rd
Floor
Boston, MA 02118
