Swedish citizens are constantly being let down by their health care system. But rather than focus on improving services for their voters, establishment figures are considering plans that would place them under further strain.

Health Minister Acko Ankarberg Johansson said on Monday that the government does not rule out transporting Gazans to Sweden and treating them there, an idea supported by the opposition. But already, Swedish hospitals are being closed down, and their patients sent to overcrowded facilities, with women from six regions having to travel up to 300 km to give birth.

So the Sweden Democrats (SD) have spent the beginning of this week pushing back against the proposal, insisting—as MEP Charlie Weimers put it—that Swedish patients be put “first.”

Svenska patienter först. https://t.co/1wWzhhDWuB

— Charlie Weimers MEP 🇸🇪 (@weimers) August 19, 2025

Jessica Stegrud, who represents the party on Parliament’s Social Affairs Committee, was quoted in Expressen on Tuesday, saying,

The Health Care Association is raising the alarm about stressed staff, staff quitting, health care queues and other things. We have major problems in parts of Swedish health care, and we think that Swedish taxpayers must be prioritised.

She also posed an interesting thought experiment, one whose consequences the politicians behind the proposal are obviously exempt from:

Anyone who really wants to accept citizens of other countries must ask themselves, which Swedish patient should we say no to? Because that’s what it’s all about.

This campaign to put Swedes first has expectedly prompted cries of “pure racism” from some on social media. Although Stegrud stressed that the Swedish government—or, really, the Swedish taxpayer—is “already doing an incredible amount in the form of aid, and we have received a great many migrants over the past 20-30 years.”

SD’s campaign may already have had an impact, as officials highlighted on Tuesday that the government is not “considering” accepting Gazan patients, as was first reported, but has simply not ruled this out.