This week, Senator Lindsey Port (DFL-Burnsville) introduced SF963, the Patients’ Right to Know Act. This bill establishes the right for health care professionals to provide medically-accurate, evidence-based information to their patients without interference from lawmakers.
“Minnesotans deserve to have the best information available to them when discussing their own health care, and yet current law forces health care professionals to give medically irrelevant, biased and inaccurate information to their patients,” said Senator Port. “As lawmakers, we have a duty to ensure that when a patient is talking with their doctor, they are able to receive accurate information that reflects the best available data, and not a script written by politicians.”
Under current law, doctors are mandated to read a script to patients that includes medically-irrelevant and biased information, including suggesting a false link between abortion and breast cancer, before they receive care. Even if a doctor believes the information may cause harm to the patient, the doctor could lose their license and be subject to felony penalties if they do not follow the script.
“The only medical procedure in Minnesota that is subject to this kind of treatment in law is abortion care, which should remain a decision between a patient and their doctor,” said Senator Port. “When it comes to a person’s right to health care, lawmakers should support providers giving patient’s information they need, not a political agenda.”
The companion bill, HF 522, is being carried by Representative Kelly Morrison (DFL-Deephaven) in the House.
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