Editor Note: This article was published a week after the Republican Party Primary debate

BY MIKE MAGEE

This evening, the Republican Party will sponsor their first Primary Debate. It will be historic in featuring the absence of their lead contender for the 2024 Presidential campaign, a candidate  who appears committed to the destruction of their own political party

Events over the past year clearly have confirmed that we are a “work in progress” even as we stubbornly affirm our good intentions to create a society committed to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

With the Dobbs’ decision, our Supreme Court has unleashed long-abandoned regressive state laws designed to reinforce selective patriarchy and undermine the stability and confidence of America’s women and families. As a result, our nation’s health professionals, and the patients they care for, potentially find themselves “on the wrong side of the law.”

Three months ago, our former President decided to deliver a message to North Carolina Republican supporters claiming that he was engaged in the “final battle” with “corrupt” forces, most especially the “Deep State” that was “out to get him.” This is the same state that politically birthed Mark Meadows, former Congressman from the 11th District of North Carolina, a position he resigned to become Trump’s Chief of Staff on March 21, 2020. That ultimately landed him a position on the roster of 19 individuals indicted by District Attorney Fani Willis on RICO charges for conspiracy and racketeering.

Trump and Meadow’s actions stand in stark contrast to the ethics and values I experienced in the UNC surgery program in Chapel Hill, NC, from 1973 to 1978.  They also do not reflect the standards advanced in North Carolina’s K-12 lesson plan, titled “The Rule of Law,” which begins with the Teddy Roosevelt quote, “No man is above the law, and no man is below it” from his 1903 State of the Union address.

The plan affirms that law is fundamental to societal health stating:

“The rule of law is basically an agreement that everyone will play by the rules. This allows us to enjoy a more peaceful and safe existence. The rule of law also ensures the protection of certain rights for each of us. Ideally, the rule of law applies equally to everyone, meaning you are treated fairly and equally, under the same set of rules, regardless of who you are.”

The curricular plan asks a question I’d love to hear FOX news co-moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, ask this evening.

“How do laws affect each of us, and what functions do laws serve in our society?

According to the NC curricular plan, here are the answers the K-12 teachers (and tonight’s FOX moderators) should be looking for. 

1.“Laws serve as standards of conduct…

2. Laws maintain order, ensure predictability, and provide security. 

3. Many laws in America grant and protect particular individual rights and freedoms, ensure equality, and advocate for the common good.

4. Laws guarantee certain benefits to citizens (e.g., schools, health services, etc.)

5. Laws assign responsibilities to citizens (e.g., paying taxes.)

6. Laws define what duties the government will perform and can also limit the power of governmental officials.

7. Laws can facilitate different forms of change (e.g., toxic waste disposal, anti-discrimination, prohibition of spousal abuse, etc.)

8. Laws are used to manage different forms of conflict, relying on courts, lawyers, and judges for such.

9. Ideally, laws should be well designed to ensure justice; they should be designed so that the average citizen can interpret, understand, and thus follow them.” 

Mike Magee MD is a Medical Historian and regular contributor to THCB. He is the author of CODE BLUE: Inside the Medical Industrial Complex.