A federal judge has struck down a former President Biden-era rule that expanded federal anti-discrimination protections to transgender people in health care programs.
The Department of Health and Human Services “exceeded its statutory authority” by adopting regulations redefining sex and prohibiting gender identity discrimination, said Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in a ruling Wednesday.
Judge Guirola ruled in favor of a coalition of 15 red states that sued over the Biden-era rule. The complaint centered on redefined provisions under Title IX, incorporated into a section of the Affordable Care Act.
Organizations receiving federal health funding and health insurers that conduct business through government plans could not refuse to provide health care services, such as gender-affirming care, that would be provided to a person for other purposes, according to the Biden administration’s rule.
This marks a significant loss for the transgender community, which has faced the rollback of previous protections, and a win for GOP-led states.
Led by Tennessee and Mississippi, states included Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a Thursday statement that the ruling restores “constitutional limits on federal overreach.”
West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey celebrated the decision in a Friday statement, saying, “Agencies do not have the authority to rewrite sex discrimination laws — only Congress does.”
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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