A U.S. District Judge in Mississippi has blocked a Biden administration proposal to ban discrimination based on gender identity — including transgender status — among healthcare providers.
The policy, finalized in May of this year, clarified existing sex discrimination protections within the Affordable Care Act to include discrimination protection against transgender people. The Health and Human Services change came as part of a slew of anti-discrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community from the Biden administration.
Citing Loper-Bright v. Raimondo — the Supreme Court decision last week that killed the landmark Chevron Doctrine, a legal principle that gave agencies the power to enact policy not explicitly written into law — Judge Louis Guirola blocked the policy from taking effect ahead of its Friday start date.
Judge Guirola noted in the ruling that, under the new doctrine, courts must “exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.”
Challenges to the rule came from Republican-led Attorney General offices in 15 states — including Tennessee — arguing that the policy put “gender ideology over medical reality” in court.
Applying to recipients of federal funds, it would have required Medicare to pay for some transgender healthcare procedures including hormone therapy, according to the state plaintiffs.
But the policy only extended anti-discrimination protections to transgender patients, and didn’t influence how patients would be treated. Judge Guirola wrote that the states’ push was likely to succeed, issuing an injunction on the plan for now.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti championed the loss for transgender patients and the Biden administration in a statement.
“Today a federal court said no to the Biden administration’s attempt to illegally force every health care provider in America to adopt the most extreme version of gender ideology,” Tennessee Skrmetti said.
