North Carolina Could Protect Medical Education by Overriding Veto

North Carolina is on the brink of reform. The state legislature has passed a praiseworthy bill that would begin to get woke ideology out of higher education, including medical schools. Yet Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the legislation on June 16^th. The state legislature may soon override the veto.

The bill that passed the state legislature tackles two big problems in medical education.

• First, it protects medical educator’s free-speech rights. The bill prohibits medical schools from requiring faculty to endorse “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or prove their commitment to these divisive woke concepts. Many medical schools require this in so-called “DEI Statements,” which are nothing more than a political litmus test that ensures conformity of extremist thought.

• Second, it protects medical educators from woke training. The bill prohibits so-called “implicit bias training,” which teaches that skin color and other characteristics determine whether someone is an oppressor or a victim. Implicit bias training, which many medical schools require, is fundamentally racist and divisive. It has no place in medical education.

These policies are common sense and urgently needed to prevent North Carolina medical schools from becoming even more woke and one-sided. Yet in his veto message, Gov. Cooper accused the legislature of opposing the creation of “a more effective and understanding workforce.”

This is misleading – and medically and morally wrong. The North Carolina bill would push medical schools to uphold high standards of education, instead of undermining those standards in service to divisive and discriminatory woke ideology.

Thankfully, the Senate has already overridden the Governor’s veto. The House will likely vote on an override motion before the month is out.