A Louisiana pediatric cardiologist — one of three who handled heart transplants in the state— announced his departure following the state’s anti-LGBTQ laws.
Jake Kleinmahon, a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, said he and his husband Tom moved back to Louisiana in 2018.
“At the time there was only one heart transplant doctor in the state of Louisiana,” he told CNN.
Kleinmahon started working as director of the pediatric heart transplant program at a local children’s hospital. “I believe the kids in Louisiana should have the same world-class health care as any other part of the United States,” he told the outlet.
But Kleinmahon had a change of heart about Louisiana after the anti-LGBTQ legislation pushed by the state’s Republican legislature. Kleinmahon, his husband and their two children decided to leave the state.
“When I came back [to] Louisiana almost exactly 5 years ago, I came with the goal of building one of the highest quality pediatric heart transplant, heart failure, and ventricular assist programs in the country,” he shared on an Instagram post.
“We have been quite successful and I’m so proud of what we’ve built. My plan had been to stay at my current institution until I retired. However, over the last year, Tom and I have watched state legislatures across the south pass anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Louisiana’s last legislative session was no different.”
Although the state’s governor, John Bel Edwards, vetoed three of the bills — including one that banned gender-affirming care for transgender children, and one prohibiting teachers from discussing sexuality in school the Republican-led legislature overturned the gender-affirming care ban, PEOPLE reported.
And when Republicans walked out of a discussion on the widely known “Don’t Say Gay,” bill Kleinmahon sakd, “It really showed that they just don’t care.”
“Tom and I have discussed at length the benefits of continuing to live in the south, as well as the toll that it takes on our family,” Kleinmahon’s Instagram post read. “Because of this, we are leaving Louisiana.”
Kleinmahon has since accepted a position as Director of Pediatric Heart Transplant, Heart Failure, and Ventricular Assist Devices at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Long Island, New York, leaving only two doctors in all of Louisiana who handle pediatric heart transplants.
“Me leaving is going to leave somewhat of a hole for medical care, he said.
“This is a wonderful new opportunity, but it is incredibly sad to leave our home, our friends, colleagues, and patients and their families,” he wrote on Instagram. “Our children come first. We cannot continue to raise them in this environment.”
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