National Briefs: Nurses Union Shames Hospital for Gender-Affirming Care Cutbacks and Science Under Seige

Nation’s Largest Nurses Union Shames Hospital for Gender-Affirming Care Cutbacks

NATIONAL— Last week, nurses represented by California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) shamed Kaiser Permanente, one of the country’s largest health care systems, for their decision to suspend some gender-affirming care services for patients under 19. CNA/NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United or NNU, the country’s largest nursing union, and represents nearly 25,000 nurses at Kaiser facilities.

“This is pre-emptively giving in to government overreach in health care,” said Lady Rainsard, RN in plastic surgery at Kaiser San Francisco. “Medical providers, not politicians, know what’s best for our patients. Gender-affirming care is safe and effective. As nurses, we always follow the precautionary principle, and we always advocate for our patients. Right now, we deem it a much greater risk to cave to this kind of government overreach than it is to provide this care to our patients, no matter their age.”

NNU has repeatedly opposed restrictions on gender-affirming care based on its efficacy for patients. Nurses believe that politically targeting patients like this complicates and hinders care at the bedside. NNU has spoken out against the presidential executive order seeking to bar patients’ access to this care, as well as Supreme Court decisions seeking to restrict care and attempts to end the provision of gender-affirming care to veterans through the Veterans Administration (VA).

Science and Democracy Under Siege

Documentation of Trumps 402 attacks on science

Between January 20 and June 30 of this year, National Resources Defense Council or NRDC documented 402 attacks on science. It defines “attacks on science” as actions, statements, or decisions that originate from an elected official or political appointee in a federal agency that results in the censoring, manipulation, forging, or misinforming on scientific data, results, or conclusions conducted within the government or with federal funds.

The first six months of President Trump’s second term have been characterized by destruction of democratic processes, divisive and vindictive actions, and chaos in federal government agencies.

Since the Inauguration, the administration has systematically destroyed federal scientific systems. 

The National Resources Defense Council or NRDC explains the Trump administration’s actions are not normal; this is an illegal power grab — a wholesale attack on the democratic systems upon which this nation was built.

NRDC asserted, “When science is sidelined, people are harmed.” In this report, we document the ways this administration has targeted the public science that we all depend on, and offers recommendations and resources to counter these attacks and hold the administration accountable.”

Details: Read the full report at: https://tinyurl.com/science-democracy-report