Boycotting conferences in red states doesn't change laws
Ineffective virtue signaling yields online clout but no real life success
One year ago, I wrote about doctors boycotting medical conferences in Red states because they disagree with restrictive abortion laws. Well, they are at it again.
In the latest update a “popular” urologist boycotts a conference in San Antonio citing fear of miscarriage while in the state.
The article explains that “Ashley Winter, 30, of California” won’t attend the conference. ““My husband (and I) are trying for our (second) child…” “… I have a high risk of miscarriage (and) I don’t want to go somewhere my health options are limited should I have an emergency.”
The logic of the boycott is: I can’t go to a medical conference in a location that raises my health care risks because they don’t offer all medical services I might need.
That means: no conferences in low and middle income nations, no conferences in mountain towns, no conferences in rural places, and no retreats away from major metropolitan areas. The further you get from quaternary medical centers, the fewer medical options you have. Yet, doctors seem happy to go to conference in Vail, Sun Valley, Brazil, Maui or India.
Some people get it. See this exchange:
I suspect we will see more boycotts for conferences in red states, but already— one year after the idea to boycott was first proposed— they occur less often and with less fanfare. In another year or two, it won’t even make the San Antonio Express News.
I am not sure the folks who protest in university presidents’ offices or those who publicly claim to boycott conferences are interested in changing policy. Their tactics are ineffective. Instead, perhaps they are only interested in building their own brand, so that next year the headline can be sure to mention they are “still popular.”
I wish irreparable financial and professional harm for these idiots. Because the next LOGICAL step is *NOT* wanting to provide care for Republican/Conservatives. Just like that resident of Dr. Prasad who argued with a gentlemen in a wheelchair who had a Trump sticker (or maybe it was just a MAGA hat).
And you are 100% spot on...the same people doing these boycotts seem to have no qualms going to fancy, glitzy places or serving their own priorities. I heard similar gasps, cries of lament and pearl clutching from colleagues at a academic hospital when they heard we traveled to Florida while (GASP) Ron DeSantis had it "open" during COVID. these same people had just come back from vacationing in Mexico. The double standard and political blindness knows no limits