A group of doctors in California are suing the administration of Governor Gavin Newsom over a state statute that gives the Medical Board of California the authority to sanction doctors who hold unconventional views on COVID-19, Fox News informed.
Five doctors claimed that the rule violates their First Amendment rights and constitutional right to due process in a complaint that was filed on Wednesday, asking a district court in California to stop the law from going into force. The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), a nonpartisan civil liberties organization, is the doctors’ representative.
In a statement to the media, Jenin Younes, counsel for NCLA, claimed that California’s new “misinformation” law is the product of a rising censorship attitude among many lawmakers in this country.
Younes asserted that the passage of this alarming bill by the state legislature and Governor Newsom’s signing it into law show that a disproportionate number of Americans do not comprehend the First Amendment.
On January 1, 2023, the law is expected to go into force. If doctors “disseminate” information concerning COVID that deviates from the “current scientific consensus,” the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California would have the authority to sanction those doctors.
Regularly treating patients, the doctors contend that the California legislation infringes on their First Amendment rights because it restricts their capacity to communicate with their patients.
According to the complaint, the First Amendment applies to both the expressing of minority views and beliefs held by the majority in order to protect Americans’ rights to free speech and expression.
The complaint stated that seven of the 15 members of the medical boards are designated as “public members,” who may not even be licensed physicians. The complaint further stated that the governor and state legislators appoint the medical boards’ members.
While they fight the state in court in the hopes that the “unconstitutional” law finally be knocked down, the doctors are requesting that the law not go into force in January.
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