A federal judge has sided with Mississippi and 14 other states in a lawsuit that argued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) overstepped its boundaries in expanding gender identity protections under the Affordable Care Act.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, joined by Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, challenged a Biden-era policy by HHS that included “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” classifications as legally protected from unlawful sex discrimination. The attorneys general contended that this rule would have coerced healthcare providers into providing sex-change procedures for patients even if they objected to performing the procedure.
“The Biden administration attempted to import its radical theories on gender identity into ObamaCare, forcing healthcare providers to perform surgeries or prescribe drugs even if it violated their best medical judgment,” Fitch said. “I am proud to stand with my colleagues from across the country as we fight to undo the Biden administration’s extremist political agenda.”
The court ruled that HHS was able to prohibit sex discrimination under parameters set by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 — a law that bars sex-based discrimination in any education program or activity that receives federal funding — which only dealt with biological sex. The HHS regulation included protections for transgender individuals, which the attorneys general argued were not applicable under the law.
“Congress only contemplated biological sex when it enacted Title IX in 1972. Therefore, the Court finds that HHS exceeded its authority by implementing regulations redefining sex discrimination and prohibiting gender-identity discrimination,” United States District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. wrote.
Along with Mississippi and Tennessee, attorneys general from Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia participated. The judge’s order, however, applies to all 50 U.S. states.