Today the American Medical Association issued a scathing statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling against Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action programs. 

The AMA stated that the decision will “undermine decades of progress” and “reverse gains made in the battle against health inequities.” 

On June 29, the court ruled that affirmative action programs, which allow colleges to consider an applicant’s race in the admissions process, violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The decision effectively overturns a prior ruling from 2003 that enabled colleges to consider race in the application process as a means of promoting diversity in higher education. 

The AMA highlighted concerns with how the ruling could affect future medical school applicants. They cited published evidence demonstrating that diverse medical care teams improve patient outcomes, especially in marginalized populations. 

“This ruling restricts medical schools from considering race and ethnicity among the multiple factors in admissions policies and will translate into a less diverse physician workforce. Diversity is vital to healthcare, and this court ruling deals a serious blow to our goal of increasing medical career opportunities for historically marginalized and minoritized people,” the statement reads. 

Prior to the ruling, AMA filed an amicus brief, which was cited during the case, in support of Harvard and UNC. A recently established AMA policy highlights the importance of recruiting diverse talent from marginalized communities that have historically been underrepresented in the medical field. Achieving this, AMA stated, requires “more commitment to, investment in and support for” such communities. 

AMA stated that the ruling undermines the positive results those policies have rendered. 

“This ruling is bad for healthcare, bad for medicine, and undermines the health of our nation.”