Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued the Biden administration over a federal rule requiring states to pay for some procedures for transgender people through their Medicaid programs, The Texas Tribune reported on Wednesday.
Concretely, Paxton is making reference to a new rule regarding a section of the Affordable Care Act about nondiscrimination, banning such practices based on gender.
Since 2016, the different administrations interpreted the rule in different ways, with the Biden White House issuing rules in March saying the protections apply to gender identity and sexual orientation.
It says that health care providers can't deny transition care that would be provided to other people for different purposes, although it makes an exception for providers to make religious freedom claims.
In a press release, Paxton's office said the rule is "a plainly unconstitutional attempt to override state law." "This is yet another example of Joe Biden trying to sidestep the Constitution and use agency rulemaking to advance unpopular, unlawful, and destructive policies," the Texas attorney general added. He requested a federal court implement an injunctive relief, pausing the measure from continuing to be in effect.
The decision comes less than a month after Paxton sued the Biden administration over a series of LBGTQ+ workers protection. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has also been targeted by the suit, which contests a guidance seeking to provide workplace accommodations to workers from this group.
Concretely, they make it unlawful workplace harassment to prevent actions such as allowing employees to use the bathroom of their gender identity. According to The Texas Tribune, the guidance isn't legally enforced and serves to distinguish what constitutes harassment under the EEOC.
Texas' lawsuit, however, argues that the guidance specifically targets the state because some employers don't have to comply with such federal policies. Paxton said that enforcing the guidance would lead Texas to reevaluate is agencies, causing "irreparable harm" to its finances and redefine "sex."
"Yet again the Biden Administration is trying to circumvent the democratic process by issuing sweeping mandates from the desks of bureaucrats that would fundamentally reshape American law," Paxton said in a statement back then.
Transgender rights also made the headlines on Tuesday after a federal judge struck down a a Florida law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors and heavily restricted it for adults.
Judge Robert Hinkle said the statute is unconstitutional as it went too far when barring transgender minors from being prescribed such a treatment with their parents' permission. He also took down a ban on online treatment for transgender adults and an order for them to only get treatment from doctors, adding they are entitled to legitimate treatment and criticizing those who oppose it.
Hinkle went on to say that "in time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished." However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis heavily criticized the decision and vowed to appeal it.
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