Medical deserts form when healthcare opportunities, investments and incentives dry up. The result is crippling for communities and ends in hospitals closing, doctors leaving and pharmacies shutting their doors. Without adequate access to health care, underserved populations are at risk of failing to receive timely diagnoses, treatments and medicines, which can put lives in jeopardy.
Without adequate access to a hospital, a primary care center, an OB-GYN, or other specialized medical services, the health of all Nebraskans is put at risk, not just the groups targeted for discrimination by multiple bills currently under consideration. State Sens. Kauth, Albrecht and Murman’s own voter bases will suffer, and until someone cures aging as a leading cause of death, eventually they will too. All of us will.
The “Medical Ethics and Diversity Act,” (LB 810), “Let Them Grow Act” (LB 574), proposed ban on abortions starting at six weeks (LB 626), and the bill removing permit requirements for conceal-carry firearms (LB 77) all pose a threat to the health and well-being of Nebraskans. The bills will damage public and community health and be devastating for patients, who will be left without access to primary care, psychiatric and pediatric services. Some communities, especially in rural areas, will have no providers left to perform emergency or intensive care medicine in life-threatening circumstances.
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As a stark counterpoint to these bills, the ban on conversion therapy for minors (LB 179) should be supported based on overwhelming evidence that practice is dangerous and abusive.
The senators pushing to strip marginalized community members of their rights are — with regrettable success — using culture war talking points to enflame and scare conservative voters in their districts. This tactic attempts to mask an astonishingly short-sighted approach to authoring bills, many of which seem to be little more than copy-and-pasted versions of legislation passed in other red states bent on eradicating protections for women, children, minorities and the LGBTQ communities.
Doctors and medical professionals Nebraska can’t afford to lose are already migrating out of state to places where the narrow political agendas of one group are not put ahead of sound clinical practices and the needs of all patients. These professionals have little incentive to stay in a state committed to making the practice of medicine more difficult while, at the same time, raising their liability exposure.
Nebraska residency programs for critical services will also dry up because med students in fields, including but not limited to, OB-GYN, pharmacology, and mental health will avoid Nebraska because the legislature has made it impossible for them to obtain the practice experience required to become a licensed physician. Criminalizing healthcare in order to advance a set of bitter social engineering goals reflects poorly on our state and will limit our access to quality healthcare professionals.
Gender affirming care is established medicine. Treatments such as puberty blockers, are reversible and have not been shown to have any long-term negative health consequences. LB 574 would also force doctors to act in direct conflict with the profession’s code of ethics. Gender affirming care is recognized as best practice from both a medical and psychological perspective, so doctors who practice ethically according to the standards of their field will be practicing illegally, according to the bill.
Conversion “therapy” is the widely discredited and often cruel practice that many LGBTQ people have suffered through in an attempt to “cure” their identity. The pseudo-scientific practice has been discredited by the World Health Organization (WHO) and more than 60 health professional associations from over 20 countries. Conversion therapy has been denounced by most leading medical groups, including the American Psychological Association, which says efforts to change sexual orientation through therapy have “serious potential to harm young people because they present the view that the sexual orientation of lesbian, gay and bisexual youth is a mental illness or disorder.”
Conversion “therapy” cannot and does not change sexual orientation or gender identity. It is not effective. It has devastating impacts on its victims including anxiety, depression, self-hatred, suicide or suicidal thoughts and many other psychological and social issues. Suicide is already a leading cause of death for young people in Nebraska, and allowing something as illegitimate as conversion therapy to take place is another example of placing Nebraskans at risk to advance a social agenda.
The Nebraska conceal-carry bill is opposed by the cities of Omaha and Lincoln, where the majority of gun violence occurs, and their police chiefs, who have said the measure will make their cities less safe.
Supporters of LB 574 claim it is intended to protect young people from harmful long-term consequences, but many will undoubtedly support LB 77, despite being told by Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer — an expert on the subject — that it will do exactly the opposite.
Chief Schmaderer was among those who testified against the bill, noting that the city’s gang violence and its population of about 500,000 would make permit-less concealed carry a dangerous proposition in the city.
Why do some senators ignore the experts? In this case, one could conclude that dismissing seasoned law enforcement professionals is little more than self-serving political protectionism kept in motion by senators whose only expertise related to policework is a keen ability to understand and manipulate the gun base. The same Republicans who joined the chorus of outrage around “defund the police” are happy to handicap cops using different, less visible means. Some lawmakers are highly skilled at hiding their clear lack of support for law enforcement behind catch-all gun rights sloganeering. Perhaps the only way to live with this type of duplicity is to ignore professional expertise, data and reason.
Nebraska is at a crossroads in this regard and can either lead the state to a better future or follow along obediently with other states that have stubbornly committed to the dark, angry — but ultimately empty — promises of a culture war most Americans did not ask for and wish would end.
OWH Midlands Voices February 2023
Steve Milliken writes, "I am convinced that students with disabilities and their families are fortunate to be in Nebraska. Focusing on the failures doesn’t help, but strategically moving forward and embracing and building upon the successes will make a difference."
John Gale writes, "Maybe some purposeful blending can keep voter photo ID constitutional under Nebraska law and our election system fair and reasonable for access by all Nebraska registered voters."
Jay Jackson writes, "Friday marked one year since the illegal and unwarranted full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Putin’s “peacekeeping” has, of course, done just the opposite: thousands of Ukrainian civilians have died and Russian military forces have met a fierce and determined Ukrainian resistance."
Chris Chappelear writes, "The only thing Congress is interested in is flooding Ukraine with weapons and keeping the war going."
Mary Kinyoun, M.D., writes, "We are not a small group of physicians opposing this bill, we are the majority. We understand that this bill will harm the women of Nebraska, as similar legislation has harmed women in Texas."
The Rev. Dr. Paul H. Moessner writes, "While we may not bear guilt as individuals, we need to acknowledge ways in which society has discriminated and injustice has resulted."
Stu Dornan and Kris Karnes write, "Put simply, (LB 753) reroutes state funds to private schools that do not provide equal access for all Nebraska children or transparency or accountability with respect to those funds."
Joanna Alexander writes, "I pray that you will not allow one faith to damage the religious freedom of another by ignoring our theological differences."
Don Stenberg writes, "Why is a law that only 30 years ago brought together liberal Democrats, conservative Republicans, the ACLU and the Christian Legal Society controversial today?"
Randy Moody writes, "The same drama played out on the House floor 113 years ago. That 1910 revolt was led by disgruntled Republican populists on the left, not 2023 Republican populist firebrands on the right."
Julie Masters writes, "For younger adults to appreciate the aging experience and to pursue a career in the field of gerontology, finding opportunities to connect generations is a pedagogical necessity."
Veta Jeffery, president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, writes, "We would like the OPS board to know that the Omaha business community is in full support of the work it does, and we offer to be helpful as it embarks upon the hiring process to replace Dr. Logan."
James Luebbe writes that at least 21 great changes have taken place during the lives of his generation — the baby boomers.
Jacob Carmichael writes, Legislative Bills 371, 574 and 575 "should be viewed as what they are: threats."
Gwenn Aspen writes, "The fashion police are coming to Nebraska with the anti-drag bill, LB 371."
Christina Martin writes, "From 2014 through 2021, local governments in Nebraska seized and sold at least 300 Nebraskan homes. Homeowners’ lost savings amounted to an average of 86% of the home’s value."
All of Omaha living mayors say Omaha’s streetcar plan is a critical investment that will take the city into the next 34 years and well beyond.
Dr. Arthur Grinstead writes, "The Nebraska Heartbeat Act explicitly permits abortions even after a baby’s heartbeat is present when there is a “medical emergency.”
