In the wake of a third bomb threat earlier this month at Boston Children’s Hospital over the gender-affirming health care for trans and nonbinary young people provided at Children’s, 36 member of Congress are calling for action from the US Department of Justice.
Reports the Boston Globe:
In a letter sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland Friday, 36 congresspeople urged Garland to outline the steps the DOJ is taking to counter anti-transgender threats of violence and provide further guidance to health care providers on protecting staff and patients.
“Our trans youth deserve to receive essential, life-saving, gender-affirming health care and our medical personnel should be able to provide it without fear of being attacked,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley said in a statement.
She joined Pennsylvania Rep. Dwight Evans and D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton in leading the letter-writing effort. …
The letter to Garland named several other institutions that have been targeted and forced to take enhanced security measures, including the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.; the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“Online posts by social media accounts spreading disinformation about transgender and nonbinary individuals have spurred real life consequences for health care providers throughout the country and for their patients,” congressional leaders wrote. “When popular accounts share unfounded and hurtful claims about these institutions, millions of followers are instigated to send hostile messages and threaten hospital staff.”
They also expressed concern about social media platforms, which they claim have been slow to act to limit the spread of threats and harmful misinformation by users.
For example, attacks against Boston Children’s began earlier this year when conservative Twitter account LibsofTikTok posted various false information about the services Children’s provides.
Friday’s letter echoed concerns raised by three major medical associations — the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Children’s Hospital Association — which wrote to Garland last month.
Read the complete Boston Globe story here.
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