A group of doctors is suing California officials over the state’s new law that lets medical boards punish physicians who offer “misinformation or disinformation” related to COVID-19.
The law, passed by Democrats in September and signed into law soon after by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, violates doctors’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process, according to the lawsuit.
The law’s definition of misinformation as “false information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus,” a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, Dr. Tracy Høeg, a California physician, and the four other doctors said.
“In safeguarding Americans’ rights to free speech and expression, the First Amendment applies not only to expression of majority opinions, but to minority views as well. Indeed, it is minority views that need protection from government censorship—as this law shows. Nor is there an exception to the prohibition on viewpoint-based discrimination simply because the law applies only to a regulated profession. In short, AB 2098 infringes Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights because it impedes their ability to communicate with their patients in the course of treatment,” the suit says….