Dr. Mehmet Oz
As CMS Administrator, Dr. Oz will oversee operations of federal programs providing health coverage to more than 160 million people including Medicare, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace. Notably, this means he will be responsible for leading the Medicaid program, the largest public payer of reproductive health services. He will also supervise enforcement of health care policies like the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), a longstanding federal law requiring hospital emergency rooms to provide “stabilizing treatment,” such as emergency abortion care.
Top Red Flags
- He stated on X that he is “100% Pro-Life” and that “life starts at conception.”
- He does not believe the federal government has a role in protecting or ensuring access to abortion and said that states should “decide for themselves” on the issue of abortion.
- He commonly spreads misinformation on health and wellness. According to the Scientific American, he has “long pushed misleading, science-free and unproven alternative therapies,” and research into his television show noted that only 46%” of the recommendations were supported by evidence.
Statements
Used false and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion, such as:
- During a town hall telephone call in 2022, he stated, “I do believe that life starts at conception” and “It’s still murder if you were to terminate a child whether their heart’s beating or not.”
- Following the leak of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, he claimed that “[t]he Court is right. Roe was wrongly decided.”
- According to CNN, during a Senatorial debate, he stated that, “There should not be involvement from the federal government in how states decide their abortion decisions.” In the same debate, he said he would not support “federal rules that block the abilities of states to do what they wish to do” on abortion.
- He has said he believes decisions around abortion should be made by “[w]omen, doctors, and local political leaders.”
Extremist Connections
Dr. Oz was endorsed by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America during his Pennsylvania Senatorial campaign.