GetUp!-backed petition seeks to deregister doctor from No-case ad, by Dennis Shanahan.
Supporters of the Yes campaign for same-sex marriage have launched a bid to deregister a doctor who appeared in the first television advertisement for the No case in a move that threatens other practitioners.
Since appearing as one of three mothers in the Marriage Coalition advertisement, Pansy Lai, a GP in northern Sydney, has been subject to a petition organised by GetUp! seeking her deregistration and has been inundated with phone and social media threats. Dr Lai told The Australian last night she had reported to police one threat that she would be shot “this week”.
She also said her supporters in the Australian-Chinese community were “very alarmed and concerned that someone is trying to destroy my livelihood just because I spoke up for family values”.
The petition, backed by GetUp!, calls on the Australian Medical Association, led by Michael Gannon, and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority to deregister Dr Lai for a breach of medical ethics and the Geneva Conventions through “her participation in the recent No campaign”. …
Coalition for Marriage spokeswoman Monica Doumit said the threat to Dr Lai’s career would apply to any doctor who spoke against the Yes case.
“In seeking to ruin the career of a doctor who dares to disagree with its agenda, the same-sex marriage lobby has shown, yet again, that it has no interest in freedom of speech,” Ms Doumit said. “The petition against Dr Lai is a threat not only to her, but to any others who might try to voice their opinion. The message is loud and clear: agree on same-sex marriage or else.” …
The petition, which received more than 5000 signatures in the first five days, accuses Dr Lai of wilfully spreading “misinformation and non-scientific evidence” in the “harmful and hurtful” No campaign. The petition accuses her of a “violation of her oath” and directly causing “harm to the LGBTIQ population”, and seeks her deregistration as a doctor.
The advertisement:
hat-tip Stephen Neil
