HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – With less than a week until Election Day, pressure is mounting for former President Donald Trump to release his medical records, possibly proving his mental and physical health before reclaiming the presidency.

On October 12, Vice President Kamala Harris released a statement. note from your doctorIt was claimed that the vice president was in “excellent health”. This statement came after Trump questioned whether Harris was fit to lead the country. In the days since, Harris has not only called on Trump to prove his health, but so have others, including a council of more than 100 members. 200 medical professionals.

Although candidates are free to release such records if they wish, there is no obligation at this time.

According to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, only Three requirements to run for president:

• A candidate must be a US citizen by birth.
• The candidate must be at least 35 years old.
• The candidate must have resided in the United States for at least 14 years.

Given age and health concerns this election season, It starts while President Joe Biden is in the raceSome feel that these requirements are not sufficient and that medical examinations should be mandatory.

This is easier said than done though. All Americans’ medical records are sealed and protected under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); There is little, if any, scope for voters to request these records. Although the term “medical documents” is not explicitly stated in FOIA, the records fall under Exemptions 6 and 7c, which prohibit the release of any record that would “violate the personal privacy of another individual.”

But given the global importance of the president of the United States, Alan Gernhardt, executive director of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, said there may be a gray area.

“You want to know that they will have the capacity, especially mentally and physically, to perform their duties,” Gernhardt said.

While health is one of the most talked about topics this election season, Dr. Ben Blankenship questions how much voters care about candidate health.

Blankenship pointed to the 2020 elections, when concerns about Biden’s age began. He also looked at data from the administrations of former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower; because each of the presidents dealt with various serious health problems while in office.

Blankenship said there is no data to show whether these concerns sway voters one way or another or play a role in the public’s trust in government. Instead, he said, the interest has more to do with political polarization and a desire for transparency.

“Rather than being a problem in itself, it seems like a tool to be leveraged when attacking the other candidate,” Blankenship said. “Transparency generally supports trust in the government – ​​public trust… For example, Eisenhower had a pretty significant health scare due to a heart attack, but after these revelations came out, trust in the government quickly returned because people were comforted in that way. transparency.”

But Blankenship acknowledges that the lack of data affecting health confidence is partly due to the media’s lack of access to candidates.

“Because social media hadn’t come into play yet and the broad media infrastructure hadn’t come into play yet, it was easier for politicians to hide their diagnoses, to hide how their health was affected,” Blankenship said.

Both Blankenship and Gernhardt agree to add that medical necessity is possible and may be beneficial. Gernhardt compared it to this: “Declaration of economic interest is a requirement for candidacy” In the Code of Virginia.

Tax records, like medical records, cannot be released in Virginia. However, there is an exception for candidates running for office. Gernhardt said the exception was created to ensure candidates didn’t use finances to influence or win votes.

Implementing a medical records mandate will be complex and some big questions need to be answered, Blankenship said.

“How do we weigh everyone’s right to privacy against this need for transparency by the American people?” he asked. “Who will do this exam? Obviously, it would need to be a trusted third party to perform such an exam. If the person we trusted was the candidates’ own doctor, this would become politicized very quickly. And finally, if such a policy is to be implemented, I think it should be implemented across the board. “If something like this were to happen, these concerns would have to be a problem regardless of whether the politician in question is 50 years old and appears healthy or is in his 70s.”

Blankenship said that even if those questions were reasonably answered, timing was important.

“Ultimately, when we have two candidates that look pretty healthy and look like we wouldn’t normally have these concerns, this might be a good time to reflect and consider that this is something that we have concerns about. Maybe we should create this new norm or create this new set of requirements and do that.” we have to put the candidates in such a way that one doesn’t do more harm or benefit than the other,” Blankenship said.

When asked if he believed people would push for a medical requirement after this election, Blankenship said he didn’t think so and said the only reason he thought the issue was salient was because it could be used as a tactic by one of the parties. attack the other.

Although Trump has not yet released a full medical report, Trump’s campaign confirms he is healthy and is capable of performing the duties of the president.

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