Why experts say the affirmative action ruling is harmful for health care
The Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling is a major issue for fields like health care and medicine that have historically lacked diversity, experts say.
The Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling will have far-reaching consequences for Black and Latino students hoping to attend medical school and, in turn, only worsen the health disparities among people of color across the country, experts said.
After the high court’s ruling Thursday struck down affirmative action programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard, many fear that medical and nursing schools and other professional institutions will no longer be able to foster diversity by considering race in their admissions processes. The decision will result in fewer Black physicians and more racial bias in the medical field, said Dr. Uché Blackstock, a physician who is the founder of Advancing Health Equity.
“Fewer Black health professionals means less culturally responsive and equitable care for Black patients,” she said. “Also, the lack of Black representation among Black health professionals is a problem for younger generations since ‘you can’t be what you can’t see.’”
Blackstock laid it out in stark terms in a string of tweets. “This is about life & death for us. Today, we are only 5% of physicians,” she wrote. “This decision will hasten the deaths of Black people in this country and we already die prematurely.”
Dr. Uché Blackstock.Courtesy Dr. Uché BlackstockThe court ruled that affirmative action programs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and are therefore unlawful. The vote was 6-3 in the UNC case and 6-2 in the Harvard case, major victories for conservative activists. Although the ruling bars schools from using race as a factor in admissions, prospective students can still share their racial or ethnic backgrounds through application materials like essays and personal statements and through their extracurricular activities.
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