Thread by @TravelingNun

LGBTQ people experience some of the highest rates of medical discrimination in the country. When we experience illness, many believe we deserve to be sick & die.

And now it’s legal in Arkansas to deny us ANY healthcare service on the grounds of “moral conscience.”

The only qualifier in this bill is that doctors must provide care in the case of an “emergency.” This is laughable, as the vast majority of healthcare services—many if not most of which are lifesaving—do not fall under the category of “emergency.”

Some argue that the bill does not name LGBTQ people explicitly, so it’s not actually targeting LGBTQ people. Again, this is laughable. We all know what demographics this law is going to be used against the most. Laws like these in the US *always* target LGBTQ people and women.

Others argue that the bill only gives permission to deny *services,* not people, meaning doctors couldn’t discriminate on the basis of identity.

Again, laughable. If this bill was really interested in protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination on the basis of identity, it would have said so in the bill. There are NO such protections in this bill for A REASON.

Prepare yourselves to see doctors in Arkansas denying care until they are reasonably sure they aren’t supporting an ungodly “lifestyle.” Treatment for STDs will be the first to go.

Prepare yourselves for doctors who refuse to treat patients with HIV because they believe it’s a judgment from God. But don’t worry...they won’t be discriminating on the basis of identity. It’s *HIV* they won’t treat. So their refusal won’t count as “discrimination.”

Think this is unrealistic? During the height of the AIDS pandemic the *Southern Medical Journal* was arguing that AIDS was a “logical” punishment for a sinful lifestyle and a “due-penalty of error.” Doctors BELIEVE and PRACTICE this nonsense.

But it won’t stop at HIV or even STDs in general. This type of logic is a slippery slope & will be used to deny a HOST of healthcare services on the grounds of “moral conscience.” This is why the text of the bill states that doctors can refuse “any” service. It’s intentional.

It’s setting up a situation where doctors will be able to claim they aren’t discriminating. They simply object to the service under question due to their religious convictions.

If LGBTQ people cry foul, doctors will say, “Oh no it’s not about that. I’m happy to treat *you.* I just can’t treat the logical consequences of a sinful lifestyle. That goes against my religious convictions.”

And this is all in addition to the anti-trans legislation that Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee passed last week, barring trans-youth from accessing gender-affirming healthcare.

LGBTQ people already face discriminatory treatment in healthcare. Medical discrimination against LGBTQ people is among the highest in the country. And now Arkansas has enshrined it into law.