Physician advocacy group Do No Harm announced on Tuesday that Tennessee State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson was named Legislator of the Year. The ‘anti-woke’ doctors group made the announcement alongside two other honorees: Indiana State Senator Tyler Johnson, M.D., who received the award for Outstanding Leadership for Merit in Medicine, and Kansas State Senator Beverly Gossage, who received recognition for Outstanding Leadership for Stopping the Harm.
“Majority Leader Johnson, and Senators Gossage and Johnson have shown great courage and clarity in taking on harmful ideologies in healthcare,” Do No Harm Executive Director Kristina Rasmussen said. “Majority Leader Johnson worked tirelessly to combat DEI in both state and local government and higher education.”
Johnson was recognized for sponsoring Tennessee legislation that prohibits diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in state and local government as well as higher education. He also played a key role in passing Tennessee’s SB1, which prohibited gender-related medical treatments for minors. That law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Skrmetti earlier this year.
The 57-year-old lawmaker said he was motivated to act after learning about pediatric ‘gender affirming’ treatments being offered in the state. “We had a very prominent medical facility in Middle Tennessee that actually had a dedicated clinic for pediatric transgender medical procedures,” Johnson said. “How can you justify doing this to a child? We immediately began crafting legislation to ban that in the state of Tennessee.”
The organization has been actively monitoring medical education institutions’ compliance with Trump administration policies on DEI programs. Just days before awarding Johnson its top honor, Do No Harm released a late September study titled “The Medical School Excellence Index,” which found that 67 of 154 of the nation’s accredited medical schools currently maintain DEI offices.
In Tennessee, the index further found that of the five medical schools it ranked, only the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine received a “B” or above, with the three other schools coming in with a “D” and two “F’s.” The study noted that only East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine still maintained a DEI office.
Do No Harm was established in April 2022. According to its website, the 501(c)(3) represents physicians, nurses, medical students, patients and policymakers in order to “highlight and counteract divisive trends in medicine.” The group says it has more than 40,000 members across all 50 states and 14 countries.
Johnson expressed gratitude for the recognition and the broader impact of Tennessee’s legislative efforts. “Not only kids in Tennessee are now protected from these barbaric procedures, but other states now have a model they can use,” he said.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
Image “State Senator Jack Johnson” by Do No Harm.
Common sense is returning to our culture despite the interference of Barry Obama and his followers.