OCTOBER 30, 2025

Dear Friends,

We’re thrilled to share some exciting news: Tuesday night, the SF Bay PSR Board of Directors voted unanimously to adopt “Safeguarding & Strengthening Democracy” as the third pillar of our work—joining our long-standing commitments to Abolishing Nuclear Weapons and Protecting the Climate, Environment, and Health.

At the same meeting, the Board also approved our new Mission, Focus, and Vision statements, which reflect both our legacy and our evolving role in protecting health, equity, and our shared future.

Our Newly Approved Mission, Focus, and Vision

Mission

San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility unites the power of medicine and activism to protect life, confront the greatest threats to human and planetary health, and empower communities to build a safer, more just, and sustainable world.

Focus

We advance policies and actions that protect human and planetary health from the threats of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, the entire nuclear cycle, militarism, environmental degradation, climate change, and social injustice—while safeguarding and strengthening the democratic rights crucial to achieve these protections.

Vision

A healthy, just, and peaceful world where people and the planet thrive free from the threats of war, pollution, and injustice.

A History of Confronting Existential Threats

From our founding, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has worked to prevent what cannot be cured. We began by confronting the existential threat of nuclear war, recognizing that there is no medical response to nuclear devastation.

Three decades later, PSR expanded its mission to include environmental and climate protection, understanding that a rapidly warming planet and our continued reliance on fossil fuels pose equally grave and intertwined dangers to human survival.

Throughout this evolution, SF Bay PSR has always viewed our work through a social, racial, and environmental justice lens—knowing that low-income communities and communities of color are consistently the most harmed by pollution, militarism, and social injustice.

Why We Added “Safeguarding & Strengthening Democracy”

Our newest pillar makes transparent that, as with peace and a healthy environment, democracy is a public health imperative. Without functioning democratic institutions—those that value truth, protect rights, and allow equitable participation—our ability to address nuclear threats, our climate crisis, and social and environmental injustice is deeply compromised.

Here are some examples supporting this connection between democracy and health:

  • This 2020 Journal of Public Health Policy article makes a clear case for why health professionals and institutions should support democratic governance.  
  • A 2019 Lancet study found that democratic governance is associated with lower mortality from cardiovascular disease, injuries, and accidents.
  • A 2024 BMJ Global Health study shows that democracies more effectively advance health equity through civic participation and accountability.
  • This 2023 Journal of Public Policy study found that sustained exposure to democracy reduces health inequities over time.

Leading health institutions agree:

  • The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) promotes nonpartisan voter engagement as a health equity strategy.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) recently affirmed that social participation and accountable governance are essential to public health.
  • The American Public Health Association (APHA) calls civic engagement a cornerstone of public health.

These findings strengthen what we have long known through our own work—democracy, peace, justice, and health are inseparable.

What This Means for SF Bay PSR

By naming “Safeguarding & Strengthening Democracy” as our third pillar, we are:

  • Protecting our mission by affirming that evidence, science, and civic participation are vital to public health;
  • Expanding our base by offering a trusted, science-based, and nonpartisan home for health professionals who want to act on their values; and
  • Strengthening our partnerships with environmental justice, community health, and civic organizations working toward equity and planetary survival.

Take Action and Celebrate With Us

We encourage you to vote YES on Proposition 50, a measure that reflects the same democratic and community health values at the heart of this new pillar, READ MORE. And enjoy the photos from our participation in the San Francisco No Kings March, where SF Bay PSR members stood proudly with others to defend truth, science, justice, and democracy.

Join Us in This Work

Another way to stand with us is to donate to support SF Bay PSR’s expanding mission. Your gift will help us bring more health professionals into this vital work, educate policymakers and the public about the connections between health, justice, and democracy, and launch new initiatives under our three pillars in 2026.

The Board will meet again in December to finalize our plans for next year—your contribution today ensures we can move boldly into 2026 with the strength, resources, and vision this moment demands. We welcome your participation in the resistance!

Donate to SF Bay PSR HERE
Thank you for standing with us as we continue to prevent what cannot be cured—protecting life, democracy, and the planet we share.

In solidarity and gratitude,

Robert M. Gould, MD
President, Board of Directors
San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility