A nondiscrimination rule that would have prevented insurers and medical professionals from refusing transgender patients hormone therapy, gender change procedures, and related medical care has been temporarily suspended in part by a federal district court judge.
A nondiscrimination rule that would have prevented insurers and medical providers from refusing hormone therapy, gender change procedures, and similar medical care to transgender people was temporarily suspended by a federal district court judge on Wednesday.
Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the U.S. District Court ruled with fifteen states that contended that gender identification is not covered by the text of the 1972 Title IX nondiscrimination law, which served as the basis for the regulation. The Affordable Care Act rule, which was scheduled to take effect on Friday, is subject to a national injunction issued by Guirola.
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Transgender
The Biden administration’s attempts to strengthen anti-discrimination laws have suffered another setback. Three federal judges have overruled state regulations that would have protected LGBTQ+ students by broadening the scope of sexual harassment at schools and colleges under Title IX in recent weeks.
Gender identity-based health care protections were introduced under the Obama administration and eliminated during the Trump administration. The Affordable Care Act rule was once again expanded to cover discrimination based on “sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics” by the Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year.
Transgender
However, the Republican attorneys general of Tennessee and the other states, which were primarily in the Midwest and South, contended that the states would lose federal funding if they disregarded the new rule or would incur financial penalties if they followed it under Medicaid or other federal health programs. Additionally, the plaintiffs contended that the federal agency’s “commitment to gender ideology over medical reality” constituted the foundation for the rule.
In testimony, Cody Smith, an attorney for the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, stated that the state’s Medicaid program and the Children’s Health Insurance Program do not cover “operative procedures to treat a mental condition,” and that the agency is prohibited from paying for gender transition procedures for children under the age of eighteen, which is a rare occurrence.
Transgender
The Biden administration “attempted to undermine Title IX by dramatically reinterpreting its meaning to now apply to gender identity,” according to Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves.
He continued, “I’m glad to see that this judge has sided with Mississippi and other states that decided to stand up for women and defend Title IX as it stands today.”
Transgender
Requests for comment were not immediately answered by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Mississippi, the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee’s administration stated it would not comment on ongoing legal matters.
Transgender
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