A U.S. judge has issued a series of temporary halts of a nondiscrimination rule proposed by the Biden administration, which aims to prevent insurers and medical professionals from denying hormone therapy, gender transition surgeries, and similar medical care for transgender people.
The rule, which extends a federal prohibition on sex discrimination in healthcare to include transgender individuals, was challenged by several Republican-led states. U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola in Gulfport, Mississippi, sided with 15 Republican-led states that sued to challenge the rule. According to them, the rule exceeded the authority of the administration.
This move comes after a federal district court judge temporarily halted parts of the nondiscrimination rule. The ruling would have prevented insurers and medical professionals from denying hormone therapy, gender transition surgeries, and similar medical care for transgender people. This temporary halt was celebrated by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who described it as a “huge win”.
The case was brought by Texas and Montana after the Biden administration introduced a new interpretation of the Affordable Care Act, extending the ban on discrimination to cover transgender people. In response, Judge Jeremy Kernodle from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas said that federal authorities are “attempting to impose a sweeping new social policy by manipulating and perverting the statutory text,” and that this could cause “irreparable harm.”
This ruling indicates a significant legal win for the Republican-led states, preventing the enforcement of the new rule against discrimination on the basis of gender identity in health care. While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which issued the rule, has not immediately responded to the recent developments, the actions highlight the ongoing legal battles and differing interpretations surrounding the issue of gender identity in healthcare provision.
