A leading public health expert has warned that President Donald Trump’s approach to healthcare during the ongoing U.S. government shutdown resembles the logic of early 20th-century eugenics policies.
Dr Craig Spencer, an emergency physician and lecturer at Brown University, said the administration’s language about which patients are “deserving” of care echoes the American eugenics movement of the 1920s and 1930s, which was later adopted by Nazi Germany.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, Spencer said it was “not a stretch” to describe current health rhetoric as a form of eugenics, arguing that such thinking decides “who should live or die” under the guise of state-approved worthiness.
The federal shutdown, now in its fourth week, stems from disputes over funding priorities. The White House and House Speaker Mike Johnson have called for spending cuts and immigration concessions, while Democrats are seeking to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies and reverse earlier healthcare reductions.
Spencer, who previously worked with Médecins Sans Frontières and survived Ebola in 2014, said the debate reflects a wider pattern in Trump-era health policy that limits who qualifies for assistance. He stressed that, under U.S. law, emergency rooms must treat all patients regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.
When questioned earlier this month, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to confirm whether undocumented people should receive emergency treatment. Speaker Johnson later said Republicans had no plans to change the law requiring hospitals to provide care in emergencies.
Spencer said that in practice, doctors do not consider paperwork or insurance in life-threatening cases. “We do what’s right for the patient every time,” he said.
For more details, see the original report by The Daily Beast here.