This is an open letter to anyone who donates money or otherwise supports the American Diabetes Association, written in order to covey a simple message: you might want to re-think any future donations to them after you read this.

Full disclosure: Neither I nor anybody I know has diabetes (that I am aware of), nor do I have any connection to the A.D.A. or any of its members. This is not a personal axe I am grinding here. Instead, it is a constitutional issue -- and a very serious one at that.

I saw a story over the weekend that made my skin crawl and sent a chill down my spine. The news first broke in what I assume is a technical journal, MedPage Today. From their report:

Members of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) were escorted by police out of the convention center in New Orleans during the organization's annual meeting on Friday as they handed out copies of an editorial criticizing Trump administration changes to U.S. biomedical research.

. . .

ADA's media team confirmed that five registrants were removed for violating code of conduct rules that they agreed to when registering for the meeting.

"These attendees were escorted out by our onsite event security because they demonstrated behavior not consistent with this code of conduct," the media team said in a statement. "They were respectfully given the opportunity to cease this behavior and chose not to which is why they were escorted out."

The code of conduct "ensures that the meeting remains safe, productive, and centered on advancing diabetes science," according to the statement.

One of those ejected was Steven Kahn, the lead author of the editorial that was being passed out. It initially appeared in the A.D.A.'s "flagship journal, Diabetes Care." Kahn is the editor-in-chief of the journal.

The report includes a video showing the scientists being ejected, complete with cops physically interacting with the researchers:

A video taken by MedPage Today shows [Aaron] Kelly, a pediatric obesity expert from Minnesota, being shoved by an officer wearing a badge of a local Constable's office, with Louisiana State Police following close behind. A plainclothes security agent rips the editorials from [Steven] Kahn's hands.

Kahn is then asked to step outside with the officers and security detail.

In a separate video provided to MedPage Today, Kahn and Ryder were shown outside of the convention center talking with police after they were escorted outside. Kelly, who was also outside taking the video, said they were "threatened to be arrested for handing out the editorial."

"They physically grabbed us, forced us out of the conference center, and now are telling us we can no longer attend this meeting. They're taking our lanyards," Kelly said.

"It really has come to this in America. Censorship is real," said Kelly. "America needs to stand up. Scientists, stand up. Physicians, stand up."

This was shortly before Director of the National Institutes of Health Jay Bhattacharya was scheduled to give the keynote address. He cancelled his appearance at the last minute.

According to those who were present, the group of people handing out the editorials "was peaceful and... there were no signs or chants." They were not disrupting anything. They were just standing there offering printouts of the editorial to anyone who walked by. They weren't forcing these printouts on anyone who didn't want a copy. They were just, to put it another way, exercising their constitutional rights as Americans -- both the rights of free speech and that of petitioning the government for redress of grievances.

The editorial in question is a call to action, titled: "Misguided Brushes Of A Pen Continue To Dismantle And Destroy Biomedical Research In The United States: We Can No Longer Afford Complacency And Fear. We Must All Act Now!" It is an exhaustive deep dive into the threats to their research the authors see from the current administration under Donald Trump, and ends on a very urgent note:

Enough is enough! We call on all concerned citizens of our beloved country to contact their congressional representatives to declare their alarm about what is happening at [the Department of Health and Human Services]. We also request that all organizations established to ensure the health and welfare of U.S. citizens clearly and loudly make their voices heard and declare their alarm about what is happening at HHS. It is no longer enough to stand idly by or work behind the scenes with lawmakers. Moreover, it is no longer appropriate to fret about political backlash. Now is the time to recognize and fight to reverse the spiraling fall of the United States of America's status as the foremost nation in health care innovation. As a nation, we must continue to believe in ensuring better health for all.

A few brushes of a pen, some clearly visible through budget requests, others less so through internal machinations, are rapidly destroying what generations have built. We can no longer afford complacency and fear. We must all act now!

For the supposed misconduct of peacefully and passively distributing this call to action to any who were interested in reading it, the researchers were not only physically kicked out of the conference, but they also had their lanyards with their entry badges taken from them, preventing them from re-entering. Kahn was scheduled to give a talk and chair a session later on, but was informed that he "has been relieved of those duties." They were also informed that they would be arrested for trespassing if they set foot on the premises again.

If you're thinking this was just some overzealousness on the part of the people responsible for putting on the conference and that the organization would rectify the situation and apologize for the overzealousness, you would be wrong. Here was their official response:

A spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association wrote in an emailed statement that the conference's code of conduct "expects that all participants will conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner. This ensures that the meeting remains safe, productive, and centered on advancing diabetes science."

Excuse me, but how does passing out an editorial which ran "in the flagship journal" of the association qualify as any of that nonsense? How is providing such an editorial for free not "professional and respectful" conduct? How in any way does that make a meeting of scientists somehow unsafe or unproductive? How could an editorial about a huge threat to diabetes science qualify as not being "centered on advancing diabetes science"?

Calling this language from the A.D.A. downright Orwellian is entirely appropriate, since the organization essentially acted as an arm of the federal government to censor an opinion disagreeing with the government's actions.

Which is precisely why any and all people who both value the United States Constitution and support the American Diabetes Association should immediately rethink their support.

In fact, for any so disgusted at this blatant violation of basic constitutional rights that they decide to stop donating or supporting the A.D.A., we would strongly urge you to not only do so but write them a note fully explaining why no more donations would be forthcoming.

Perhaps that will (belatedly) cause them to rethink their disgraceful actions and issue a full apology for their overreach. It's certainly worth a try.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant