Children’s heart doctors in Florida are reeling from a recent decision by the state to drop surgical standards for pediatric open heart surgery, CNN reports. To add insult to injury, doctors and medical experts suspect that the decision was purely political.

The decision follows a 2014 medical review and a June 2015 report by CNN, which found that one particular medical facility, St. Mary’s Medical Center and Palm Beach Children’s Hospital, had an abysmal track record for pediatric open-heart surgery—a death rate more than three times the national average. And the two reports found that the facility was failing to meet the now-repealed standards, which include proficiency in performing the surgeries themselves.

The St. Mary’s facility is run by Tenet Healthcare, which coincidentally donated $200,000 to the state’s republicans between 2013 and 2014, including $100,000 to Republican Governor Rick Scott’s political action committee. Those donations were the highest of any Tenet gave to political groups in other states.

A month after CNN’s report, the state announced that it would repeal the standards for children’s heart surgery. Florida’s health department explained the move by saying that the standards were never properly approved by the legislature, but it failed to explain to reporters why legislative approval was not sought upon realizing the lapse.

Doctors and top medical experts are strongly against the repeal. They also suspect that the decision to cut the standards came directly from the Governor’s office. David Nykanen, a pediatric cardiologist and member of the state's Cardiac Technical Advisory Panel, told CNN that the Department of Health's chief of staff was always very careful at every meeting to say there's no political agenda. “But we thought to ourselves, 'Do you think we're stupid?'”

Both Tenet and the Governor’s office say that no members or representatives from either side were in communication about the issue.

In December, Florida Administrative Law Judge John Van Laningham ruled that the state could remove the standards from state hospitals. In his ruling, he argued that the surgical standards were unnecessary because doctors will do the right thing because they want to, not because they are required to do so. “The notion, therefore, that every facility in the CMS network would suddenly stop providing quality pediatric cardiac services immediately upon the repeal of the Standards rests on pure speculation—and is a little insulting to the health care professionals who personally deliver those services,” he wrote.

Doctors are now deciding whether to appeal the decision.

In August, St. Mary’s closed its pediatric heart surgery program and its CEO resigned.