WASHINGTON – A group of about 60 individuals in lab coats marched through the rain from buses to Upper Senate Park on the evening of May 23, gathering in front of a raised podium in the park shadowed by the Capitol Building.
The demonstrators were trying to bring attention to recent policies that threaten to undermine research funding, tobacco regulation, affordable health care, clean air, and other advocacy priorities of the American Thoracic Society. The ATS had organized this rally – “Lab Coats for Lungs” – in conjunction with its international conference, which took place in Washington May 19-24.
“We rally today because we share growing anxiety that science in general, and our field in particular, is being dismissed in the halls of power,” ATS Vice President Polly Parsons, MD, announced from the podium.
Other speakers condemned the Trump administration’s proposals to scale down on environmental, health, and safety regulations, as well as proposed cuts to federal funding for scientific research, including an 18% reduction to National Institutes of Health funding.
Some speakers, including Gary Ewart, ATS chief of advocacy and government relations, and the event’s organizer, encouraged the crowd to raise their voices.
“Tell me what democracy looks like,” he yelled several times.
“This is what democracy looked like,” his fellow marchers shouted.
Mollie Kalaycio/Frontline Medical News
Dr. Marc Moss, ATS president, speaks at the "Lab Coats for Lungs" rally in Washington.
“What brought us the ability to transplant a lung and save a patient’s life who is dying of respiratory failure? What will cause the next breakthrough discovery? When our elected officials are looking for answers to challenging questions, what should they use for their guiding light?”
“Science!” bellowed the demonstrators, following each of Dr. Moss’s inquiries.
Some of the marchers wore pink lab coats rather than white, as a demonstration of women’s rights and gender equality in the field of science and medicine.
“The idea to wear pink coats was a result of discussions that mentioned that women’s rights were an integral part of the campaign for science, health, and clean air,” said ATS member Naftali Kaminski, MD. “Access to health care is critical to women, as is clean air. This why we chose to wear pink instead of white coats.”
Other speakers included Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), pulmonary fibrosis patient advocate Teresa Barnes, and past ATS President David Gozal, MD.