Doctors Against Genocide brings more than 200 to Capitol Hill for health care advocacy day

Doctors Against Genocide will bring more than 200 medical professionals and supporters to Washington, D.C., on Thursday for a day of education and advocacy focused on protecting health and human life in the U.S. and abroad. The group plans more than 30 congressional meetings after a morning press conference in Upper Senate Park.

Why it matters: - The effort links health care policy in the United States with the destruction of Gaza’s medical system. - Organizers are pressing Congress to protect patients, health workers, hospitals, immigrant communities and humanitarian aid. - The campaign argues that health care and human life should shape public policy at home and abroad.

What happened: - Doctors Against Genocide will bring more than 200 medical professionals and supporters to Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, for 1000 White Coats for Humanity Day. - The day starts with a national press conference at 10:30 a.m. in Upper Senate Park. - Participants will then hold more than 30 meetings with congressional offices on Capitol Hill. - The delegation includes medical professionals, supporters, National Nurses United, National Single Payer, Priests Against Genocide, community health advocates, healthcare professionals, faith leaders and supporters. - Members of the press are invited, and a question-and-answer period will follow the remarks.

The details: - The event is framed as a national day of education and advocacy for protecting healthcare and human life in the United States and abroad. - The press conference theme is protecting health and human life at home and abroad. - The event will highlight Gaza’s healthcare crisis, where hospital-bed capacity has fallen to less than half its prewar level. - At Al-Shifa Hospital, about 750 beds once supported Gaza’s healthcare system; clinicians are now working with fewer than 250 temporary beds. - Only three of Gaza’s 20 prewar CT scanners remain, and two need urgent repair. - Gaza’s only psychiatric hospital and all seven community mental-health centers have been destroyed. - Clinicians are reporting shortages of sterile gloves, pediatric IV tubing, syringes, oxygen masks, medications and equipment needed for intensive-care units and neonatal incubators. - National Nurses United will address the effects of healthcare cuts and inadequate public investment on nurses, patients, hospitals and communities. - National Nurses United will also argue for public spending on healthcare and human needs rather than weapons and warfare. - National Single Payer will focus on the consequences of people being uninsured or underinsured. - National Single Payer will call for healthcare to be recognized as a human right in the United States. - Community health advocates will discuss how ICE enforcement creates fear, disrupts care, separates families and harms immigrant communities’ physical and mental health. - Priests Against Genocide will address the moral responsibility to protect civilians, children, healthcare workers and medical facilities. - Priests Against Genocide will also oppose the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars for weapons that cause civilian suffering. - The congressional agenda calls for protecting healthcare and essential social services in the United States. - The delegation will also urge Congress to end obstruction of humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza. - Other asks include protecting civilians, healthcare workers, hospitals and medical facilities, ending the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars to enable attacks on civilians and health infrastructure, protecting immigrant communities, ensuring people can seek care without fear of detention or deportation, and securing the release of detained healthcare workers. - Media contact: Gur Tsabar, movementmediahub@gmail.com, +1 347.248.1390 cell/Signal/WhatsApp. - Dr. Nidal Jboor is listed as a Doctors Against Genocide contact at +1 313-354-1400. - The release includes social media links for LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X.

Between the lines: - The event uses a medical delegation format to give political pressure a humanitarian frame. - By tying Gaza to U.S. health care cuts and immigration enforcement, organizers are broadening the message beyond foreign policy alone. - The coalition of nurses, faith leaders and single-payer advocates suggests an effort to build a wider cross-issue base around health care as a rights issue.

What's next: - The press conference and Capitol Hill meetings are scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. - Organizers will deliver their message directly to congressional offices during the advocacy day. - The event is intended to push lawmakers toward policy changes on health care, immigration enforcement, humanitarian aid and civilian protection.

The bottom line: - Doctors Against Genocide is turning white coats into a lobbying campaign, arguing that protecting health systems and civilian access to care is a federal policy imperative.