Dr. Oz's nomination opposed by reproductive justice leaders
Mehmet Oz, the former television show host, has been nominated by President Donald Trump to oversee the agency responsible for Medicare and Medicaid services.
While one former television star is the commander-in-chief, he’s tapped another person from that realm to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. And virtually everyone in the reproductive rights movement isn’t happy about it.
President Donald Trump nominated Mehmet Oz, or Dr. Oz, as he’s known to people who watched his show, to lead the agency. He had his confirmation hearings this week. Oz has said that he believes abortion is murder at any stage of pregnancy. He supports regulations made by local leaders on the topic.
Regina Davis Moss, president and CEO of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, spoke to me about the danger the nomination poses to women of color and people from poorer backgrounds.
“If there are cuts to Medicaid, you're going to see more increases in black women dying during childbirth,” Moss said. “We're going to see emergency maternal care continue to be threatened, more people having to bleed out or in parking lots or sit in waiting rooms until they are on the brink of death.”
The Trump Administration also wants to cut $880 billion in Medicaid funding. When asked during his hearing. Oz refused to commit to opposing those cuts. Moss said she doesn’t think people realize the magnitude of the damage it could do to poor people’s care.
“That's catastrophic,” Moss said.
One of the most significant decisions OZ could make deals with Medicaid reimbursement in situations where abortions were performed in emergency rooms. CMS enforces any violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, which stipulates medical workers have to perform needed care, including abortions, to save the health and life of mothers in those settings.
“All of these things have a tremendous impact on healthcare,” Moss said. “There just would be devastating impacts on women and girls and birthing people.”
Another aspect of the abortion debate that doesn’t get enough attention is how the Trump administration’s health officials have treated vaccines, including those for Measles and Rubella. During the 1960s, rubella epidemics caused thousands of abortions and birth defects, leading to the development and widespread use of the rubella vaccine, now part of the MMR vaccine.
“We're seeing these measles outbreaks pop up all around,” Moss said. “These debunked theories and treatments are not helping us. They're killing us.”