It's a day ending in -y, and here's another so-called medical professional vowing to discriminate against conservative patients. This time, it's a nurse in Florida who says he won't give Republicans undergoing surgery anesthesia, and that it's not only his right but ethical for him to do so.
Meet Erik Martindale, a registered Florida nurse.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 26, 2026
He says he won’t give anesthesia for Republicans undergoing surgery and believes that’s his right and is ethical.
He needs to be fired and stripped of his license immediately. @FLNursingBoard pic.twitter.com/CP3dWHH1CX
"I will not perform anesthesia for any surgeries or procedures for MAGA. It is my right, it is my ethical oath, and I stand behind my education. I own all of my businesses and I can refuse anyone!" Martindale wrote in a social media post below his picture.
Actually, the Left has made it very clear that businesses cannot discriminate against customers. Bake the cake and all that. And if you want to stay in business, does advertising that you will actively harm at least half of your potential customer base help you get patients? Probably not.
But that's not the point. While Florida law does allow for certain conscience-based objections to procedures, those are for "a sincerely held religious, moral, or ethical belief" and the law has limits:
The exercise of the right of medical conscience is limited to conscience-based objections to a specific health care service. This section may not be construed to waive or modify any duty a health care provider or health care payor may have to provide or pay for other health care services that do not violate their right of medical conscience, to waive or modify any duty to provide any informed consent required by law, or to allow a health care provider or payor to opt out of providing health care services to any patient or potential patient.
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Providing anesthesia during surgery and procedures does not fall under the Florida law, and there is no "religious, moral, or ethical belief" that would allow a healthcare provider to perform surgery or procedures without proper anesthesia.
There is no "right" or "ethical oath" to deny patients anesthesia.
The board would come down hard on any nurse who publicly refused to treat patients of a certain race or religion. This situation is really not that different. Radical politics and contempt for any group of patients, have no place in medicine.
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) January 26, 2026
The medical board would not tolerate this.
His career just ended because nobody is going to ask every person going thru a hospital about their political affiliation to cater to an anesthesiologist & since he's said that, he can never do anesthesia for anyone on the Right w/out risking a massive lawsuit if it goes wrong
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) January 26, 2026
It's a massive liability that no employer, or malpractice insurers, are going to take.
Looks like he's now doing the "I got hacked" bit to pretend he didn't say what he said pic.twitter.com/3SZBmAyJFH
— Nicole Solas, Sued by the Teachers Union (@Nicoletta0602) January 26, 2026
That won't work.
This is a response to Martindale's post on FB.
— Jessa G. (@SweetGaelicGirl) January 26, 2026
All of this is delusional and insane. I'm guessing Martindale will soon have his FL license pulled. https://t.co/f3fHLXfKTs pic.twitter.com/sPTlSce7gq
People believe this.
Medical associations need to come down on this so hard that the fallout can be seen from space
— PoIiMath (@politicalmath) January 26, 2026
Medical workers who flirt with this kind of behavior are eroding a foundational brick of modern civilization https://t.co/YsINcHNPeH
The erosion is the point.
This is shockingly unethical. In Israel, Israeli doctors give medical assistant to wounded Palestinian terrorists, not because they support the Palestinian cause, but because they are doctors, with professional ethics. This creep needs to be fired or de-licensed. https://t.co/T0Effs1KGk
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) January 26, 2026
Leftists ignore this, of course.
That's not just a nurse, that is a CRNA. @NBCRNAofficial and @aanacrna are you going to stand by and let CRNAs violate the code of ethics?
— SquishyHunter (@SquishyHunter) January 26, 2026
Would he really protect a patient if he found out mid-procedure the patient was MAGA? https://t.co/cN96FKxyhJ
And, just so you're aware, Indeed says the average Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) makes about $107 an hour on average, or $222,560 per year (assuming a 40-hour work week with no overtime/weekend/night shift pay). That guy just blew up a lucrative career that took him years to obtain, thanks to his hatred of President Trump and MAGA.
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