Petition calls for doctor in 'no' campaign same-sex marriage ad to be deregistered
A woman that appeared in the advertisement for the 'no' camp in the same-sex marriage debate is now at the centre of an online campaign to have her medical licence stripped.
The online petition has just over 6,000 signatures and calls for a "review of the registration of Dr Pansy Lai".
Dr Lai, a GP in northern Sydney, appeared as one of three mothers in the Marriage Coalition advertisement that first aired at the end of last month.
She told The Australian she has been inundated with phone and social media threats since the ad was released and said she had reported one threat to police that she would be shot "this week".
The online petition calls on the Australian Medical Association to deregister Dr Lai "for violation of its code of ethics and violation of the Declaration of Geneva by her participation in the recent 'no' campaign against marriage equality".
"It is clear that Dr Pansy Lai has misused her privileged position as a medical practitioner in the harmful and hateful 'no' campaign, which is a clear violation of her oath to the Declaration," the petition reads.
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Coalition for Marriage spokeswoman Monica Doumit said after the threat to Dr Lai’s career from this petition, that it would now apply to any doctor who spoke against the 'Yes' case, The Australian reports.
“In seeking to ruin the career of a doctor who dares to disagree with its agenda, the same-sex marriage lobby has shown, yet again, that it has no interest in freedom of speech,” Ms Doumit said.
“The petition against Dr Lai is a threat not only to her, but to any others who might try to voice their opinion. The message is loud and clear: agree on same-sex marriage or else.”
Dr Lai has been a campaigner against gay rights and activism for some time, taking the lead to secure 17,500 votes against the Safe Schools anti-bullying program, which she said last year discriminated against Chinese culture.
Just one day after the 'no' ad was aired, the 'yes' camp aired their first commerical claiming the 'no' camp is "trying to mislead us".
The ad features Dr Kerryn Phelps.
It begins with the grandmother watching the "No" video before telling the camera "sadly some are trying to mislead us, like this ad does by saying there will be a negative impact" if Australia allows same-sex couples to get married.
The online petition against Dr Lai concludes that "she has used her standing as a medical professional to directly cause harm to the LGBTIQ population, in direct opposition to her ethical obligation to be supporting the health and welfare of people".
Dr Lai said she was speaking out against same-sex marriage as a parent.
