States Sue To Halt Obama Administration Rules On Transgender Health
The Department of Health and Human Services' rules seek to keep insurers from blanket bans on coverage of gender reassignment services and ban health care providers from refusing to care for transgender patients. Five states say the regulations could force doctors to perform gender transition procedures on children.
The Associated Press:
States File Another Lawsuit Over Obama Transgender Rules
The lawsuit is the second in recent months in which conservative states have sued over federal efforts to defend transgender rights. Social conservatives claimed victory Sunday when a federal judge in Texas halted an Obama administration directive requiring public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. Now they're asking that same court to block new regulations intended to ban discrimination by doctors, hospitals and insurers against transgender persons. (Weber, 8/23)
Politico:
States Sue To Block Obamacare's Transgender Protections
The lawsuit challenges a section of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in health care programs. In May, HHS issued final regulations, which prevent insurers from having blanket bans on coverage of gender reassignment services and forbids providers from refusing care to transgender patients, among other protections. (Pradhan, 8/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Sued Over New Transgender Health-Care Regulation
The lawsuit marks religious conservatives’ growing engagement in the fight over transgender rights, which has rapidly emerged as one of the most explosive social debates of the Obama administration. The suit comes just one day after a Texas judge temporarily suspended new federal guidelines intended to expand bathroom access for transgender students at public schools. (Lovett and Radnofsky, 8/23)