A federal judge struck down recently installed Title IX protections, temporarily blocking its enforcement across the country and marking a victory for more than a dozen Republican-led states who challenged the rules.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced changes to Section 1557 in Title IX — which deals with the nondiscrimination aspect of the Affordable Care Act — in May. This announcement included plans to expand the rule’s definition of sex discrimination so it could include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These changes were set to take effect on July 5.
Fifteen states total teamed up in June to litigate the Biden administration over including LGBTQ+ identities as a protected class under Title IX. These states claim the new rules replace healthcare guidelines with “with a regime that sides with HHS’s commitment to gender ideology over medical reality.”
The HHS, on the other hand, claims the new update to the policy was in line with a Supreme Court decision in 2020 protecting employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
George W. Bush appointee District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. sided with the states this past Wednesday, saying allowing the rules to come into effect would “cause concrete, imminent injury.”
Tennessee Republican Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti released a statement shortly after the judge’s ruling was announced.
“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,” he said. “The administration has over and over again issued regulations that mangle the law to advance an ideological agenda.”
“Today’s order puts the rule on pause while we keep fighting to ensure this illegal rule never goes into effect.”
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said the district judge’s ruling was “morally wrong.”
“The discrimination LGBTQ+ people will continue to experience under this injunction is indefensible,” Robinson said. “Everyone deserves access to the medical care they need to be healthy and thrive. Instead, this court has sided with the fringe groups and politicians who want to bully our community at every opportunity. This isn’t over: all LGBTQ+ people should receive the health care they deserve and be able to make informed decisions about our own bodies.”