A Biden's rule that prohibits gender-affirming discrimination in healthcare is temporarily blocked by a US Judge, as factors protecting transgender people are being weighed from all sides.
The Controversial Healthcare Protection
Healthcare protections based on gender identity were initially implemented during the Obama administration but were subsequently removed under former President Donald Trump. In 2021 and 2022, President Joe Biden issued an executive order that directs entities that receive federal funds, including Medicaid programs, to implement measures aimed at safeguarding transgender individuals from discrimination.
However, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced significant revisions to Section 1557 in May, a non-discrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) slated to take effect on Friday, expanding the scope of the Affordable Care Act rule, encompassing discrimination based on "sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics," which left conservative states enraged, Reuters reported.
READ ALSO: Four Trans Candidates Omits Deadnames, Calling it "Hollow" for Ohio House Election Disqualification
Oppositions Being Weighed from All Sides
Republican attorneys general from Tennessee and other states, primarily in the South and Midwest, contended that the new rule implementation under Medicaid or other federal health programs would impose financial burdens on their states or could result in the loss of federal funding when they fail to comply.
Fifteen GOP-led states, including Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia, filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration in June, arguing that the new rule replaces their health regulations with a system that prioritizes HHS's adherence to gender ideology over medical facts, ABC News reported.
According to the lawsuit of the opposing states, the rule would mandate their Medicaid programs, which cover low-income residents, to fund treatments such as hormones and surgeries for transgender individuals, including minors, which has long been prohibited by many Republican-led states, commonly referred to as gender-affirming care.
Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola expressed confidence that the Republican states will likely prevail in their legal challenge, asserting that the administration had exceeded its authority by interpreting "sex" in federal law to encompass gender identity in his preliminary order on Wednesday.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, alongside Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, asserted in a statement that a federal court had rejected the Biden administration's effort to mandate every healthcare provider in the U.S. adopt an extreme version of gender ideology.
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, criticized the ruling, stating that the ruling is not only morally wrong but also bad policy and that everyone should have access to necessary medical care to support their health and overall well-being.
In a court filing, HHS argued that the states' concerns were "speculative" and emphasized that the rule does not supersede doctors' medical judgment. The filing contended that the states were not justified in seeking an injunction to block the rule as they were not facing immediate enforcement actions.
RELATED ARTICLE: Elon Musk Sued by Eight SpaceX Engineers Over Wrongful Termination, Gender Bias, Harassment Lawsuit
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
