A proposed bill could ban DEI in medical schools

(CNN) – Dr. Versha Pleasant has dedicated her career to finding ways to erase the racial health inequities facing Black mothers. A clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan Medical School, Pleasant said she developed a curriculum that teaches the history of racism in obstetrics and gynecology in the U.S. The curriculum was part of a pilot project and covered James Marion Sims – a doctor who once performed experimental surgeries on enslaved Black women without anesthesia, Pleasant said. Related Stories This treatment, she added, inspired the false belief that Black women can withstand greater amounts of pain than White women. While Pleasant said she didn’t teach the material this year, she feared her efforts to reintroduce it could be challenged if a new bill targeting DEI efforts in federally funded medical schools passes. Last month, North Carolina Republican Rep. Greg Murphy introduced the Embracing anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education [EDUCATE] Act would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit medical schools from getting federal funding if they adopt policies or requirements related to DEI, including promoting beliefs that a person’s sex, race, ethnicity or skin color makes them a...