A medical watchdog sued the Montana governor Tuesday over race and sex-based requirements for the state’s top medical board.
The lawsuit was filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a public interest law firm, on behalf of Do No Harm (DNH), a medical activist organization, in the United States District Court for the District of Montana Helena Division against Republican Montana Gov. Gregory Gianforte. The PLF is representing an unidentified woman affiliated with DNH who cannot apply to the Montana Board of Medical Examiners due to the sex-based requirements, which PLF alleges violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, according to a DNH press release. (RELATED: ‘Time’s Up’: Trump-Appointed Judge Grants Permanent Injunction Against Minority Business Development Agency)
The Montana Board of Medical Examiners is the medical licensing board in the state, and the governor confirms members to the board, according to DNH. When making appointments to the board, the governor is required to “take positive action to attain gender balance and proportional representation of minorities resident in Montana to the greatest extent possible,” a requirement adopted over 30 years ago, according to Montana law.
“This type of discriminatory mandate is unconstitutional and represents the politicization of healthcare that is dangerous for patients. Expertise should be the primary determining factor for these appointments, and Montana must get rid of discriminatory practices to refocus on medical excellence,” Doctor Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of DNH, said in the press release.
A empty bed where a patient with Covid-19 died earlier in the day waits to be filled with a new patient in the ICU at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, on January 18, 2022. (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
“Requiring the governor to consider the race and gender of candidates for the medical board is demeaning, patronizing, un-American, and unconstitutional,” Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Caleb Trotter, said in the press release. “Assuming that candidates bring diverse perspectives based on nothing other than their gender or race, treats individuals as faceless members of a group based on their immutable characteristics.”
Race-based approaches to education and hiring have come under fire in recent years.
The Supreme Court struck down race-based college admissions in June 2023, and now many businesses are re-considering race and sex-based scholarships and considerations. Conservative legal groups often argue that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment makes race and sex-based discrimination unconstitutional.
Gianforte did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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