The American Medical Association (AMA) just published new guidelines for physicians and other health care professionals: “Advancing Health Equity: A Guide to Language, Narrative and Concepts.”
“Advancing Health Equity” shows how much the AMA is not “following the science,” but is pursuing a radical political, social and sexual agenda.
The AMA’s Center for Health Equity developed the new language guidelines in partnership with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Center for Health Justice. The groups explain the purpose of the document, “Our primary goal is not to provide a definitive list of ‘correct’ terms, but rather, to give some guidance on equity-focused, person-first language.”
Some of the guidance actually makes sense: Health care professionals should listen to their patients, avoid dehumanizing language and think about the words they use when addressing patients. Health care workers should also take a person’s “ancestry, genetics, and biology” into consideration in “medical education, research, and clinical practice,” as the guide advises.
But “Advancing Health Equity” is rooted in political concepts derived from critical race theory (CRT), gender studies, social medicine and health equity work. It follows similar guidelines that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in August, 2021.
Of most concern, the publication relies heavily on CRT-promoting individuals and groups like the BIPOC Project (Black, Indigenous and People of Color), Race Forward, Ibram X. Kendi and the Narrative Initiative.
Written by educated individuals with a host of degrees after their names, the guide simply regurgitates today’s most woke ideologies.
It seeks to challenge (not target, tackle or combat – we’re not supposed to use those terms) the “dominant narratives (also called malignant narratives), particularly those about ‘race,’ individualism and meritocracy (their emphasis).”
The guidance explains, “Dominant narratives reflect the values and interests of the dominant group – white, wealthy, hetero-, able-bodied, male, Christian, U.S.-born.”
The guide begins with an obligatory “Land and Labor Acknowledgement,” recognizing that the headquarters of the two groups are on land that were “the traditional homelands” of a variety of “Native Americans and Indigenous peoples.” The organizations “also acknowledge the extraction of brilliance, energy and life for labor forced upon millions of people of African descent for more than 400 years.”
The AMA and AAMC state, “We must remember that we carry our ancestors in us, and we are continually called to be better as we lead this work toward the pursuit of racial justice, equity and liberation.”
“Advancing Health Equity” then states, “It is critical to address all areas of marginalization and inequity due to sexism, class oppression, homophobia, xenophobia and ableism.”
After explaining the importance of narratives and how health inequities are created and reinforced by “systems of power and oppression,” the language guide gives a glossary of key terms.
“Advancing Health Equity” defines some of the ever-expanding list of terms for “sexual orientations” and “gender identities,” such as asexual, bisexual, cisgenderism, cissexism, gender expansive, genderqueer, pansexual and questioning.
It also explains the variety of acronyms for individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, such as LGBTQ, LGBTQ+ and LGBTQQIP2SAA. Seriously.
The “biomedical model” of understanding and treating diseases is denigrated for “excluding environmental and social influences.” The guide explains, “This individualized, reductionist approach neglects other critical components, generally blaming individuals for their condition instead of acknowledging long-term, intersecting structural influences associated with social injustice.”
The glossary takes a Marxist turn when it explains terms like class, class conflict, class consciousness, class society and class structure.
Class conflict is defined as, “A permanent division and antagonism between those who own and control capital and the resources and mechanisms of production, as well as the structures of power in society, and those who do not.” Laborers don’t work to earn a living and support themselves and their families, they do so to transfer their power and benefit others in a different social group. Workers of the world, unite!
The AMA has been following this leftist trajectory for a while, injecting politics into medicine for years. It appointed a Health Equity Task Force in 2017, then launched the Center for Health Equity in 2019, developing an 84-page plan to “embed racial justice and advance health equity” in the medical profession.
In addition to embracing CRT, the organization advocates for abortion, supports therapy bans for those struggling with unwanted homosexuality or transgenderism, and believes sex is “assigned” at birth – rather than recognized as a biological reality.
Related articles and resources:
Ben Shapiro Exposes American Medical Association’s Use of Sham Science in Recent Vote
CDC Launches ‘Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive Communication’
Has the American Psychological Association Lost Its Mind About Healthy Sexuality?
Woke Medicine: ‘The AMA’s Strategic Plan to Embed Racial Justice and Advance Health Equity’
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