Republicans did a good thing for NC families. Their supporters want to derail it | Opinion
North Carolina Republicans did a good thing this summer when they advanced bipartisan legislation that would help address the physician shortage in rural areas. House Bill 67, which was signed into law by Gov. Josh Stein last month, allows internationally trained physicians to practice medicine in North Carolina at designated rural hospitals and medical practices, so long as another licensed physician is practicing on-site.
But no good deed ever goes unpunished. Right-wing activists on social media are furious over the bill, implying it allows doctors from other countries to practice medicine in North Carolina unsupervised and unvetted. Much of the backlash surrounding the bill is rooted in misinformation and fearmongering. They say it’s jeopardizing Western values, “handing rural medicine to 21 Islamic nations, including Sharia states” and “allowing chain immigration from Islamic countries that practice Sharia Law.” One post includes a list of Middle Eastern countries and claims that the bill allows doctors from those countries to practice in North Carolina “without completing a US residency or passing a US qualification exam.”
That’s misleading for a number of reasons. For one, the bill never actually mentions Middle Eastern countries — it applies to physicians from any foreign country. establishes a long list of requirements that internationally-trained physicians must meet in order to be eligible for a license, including a foreign medical license and recognized medical education and training. Another one of those requirements is to have demonstrated competency to practice medicine by passing an exam. Passing one of the standard U.S. exams would count, but so would passing “a nationally recognized standard medical licensing examination from a country that is a member of the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities. Here’s the thing, though: exams from places like Iraq, Iran, Palestine and Syria would not count, because most Middle Eastern countries are not even members of the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities. And even if they did count, so what? As long as they meet the standards outlined in the bill, it shouldn’t matter what country the doctors come from.
Misleading and alarmist as it may be, the backlash is intense. The bill’s most vocal opponents have a wide reach on social media, which has helped the online chorus grow in size and volume. They’ve made appearances on Newsmax and discussed it heavily on their podcasts and in their newsletters. With these platforms, they accuse lawmakers of having sinister motivations and betraying the American First platform they ran on, hinting at political fallout in upcoming Republican primaries. One of the bill’s sponsors, who is a doctor himself, attempted to address concerns about the bill in a nearly 13-minute long video posted to social media. Some commenters said they appreciated the explanation, while others demanded he resign and vowed to replace anyone who voted for the legislation. That video is the kind of transparency and communication we should demand from lawmakers more often in response to constituent concerns — but reactions like those deter them from speaking up at all.
It’s yet another example of a much larger problem: the uncomfortable position Republicans often find themselves in when they’re trying to do the right thing. We see it on the national level, too. Before announcing his retirement, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis often found himself on the receiving end of pressure and political threats from the right-wing media machine when he attempted to fall out of line with Donald Trump. These types of grassroots pressure campaigns, often highly organized, are part of the right-wing playbook now. In many ways, that playbook was written by Trump himself, who has built himself an army of impassioned online supporters, and often uses his own posts to direct public pressure at politicians who don’t conform to his agenda.
But, when successful, those strong-arming tactics stand in the way of policies and decisions that can actually help people. And every time Republicans succumb to that pressure, they set a dangerous precedent. Luckily, in this case, the backlash hasn’t stopped Republicans from doing the right thing, unless they decide to repeal the bill somewhere down the line. Despite what its opponents say, this is a good bill, and it’s one that North Carolina badly needs. We’ve long suffered from a physician shortage, especially in rural and underserved areas, and years of efforts to increase the supply of doctors haven’t done enough to abate it. Instead, it’s getting worse. That means it’s time to try new solutions — we should be glad that lawmakers are doing just that.
Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten can be reached at pmasten@charlotteobserver.com.
This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 5:47 AM with the headline "Republicans did a good thing for NC families. Their supporters want to derail it | Opinion."
