A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from removing non-discrimination protections for transgender people in health care, issuing a temporary set back to a major policy priority for social conservatives.
The new rules, which were set to take effect on Tuesday, would have reversed Obama-era regulations from the Affordable Care Act that said discrimination protections “on the basis of sex” should apply to transgender people. Civil rights advocates had decried the new interpretation, saying it could be used to deny care to transgender patients.
The Department of Health and Human Services finalized the regulations in June, three days before the Supreme Court ruled that federal non-discrimination protections “because of sex” include gay and transgender employees. The Supreme Court justices held that such discrimination “has always been prohibited by Title VII’s plain terms,” and that “that should be the end of the analysis.”
In Monday’s preliminary injunction, U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block said the administration’s new rules contradicted this Supreme Court ruling, and that HHS acted “arbitrarily and capriciously in enacting them.”
“When the Supreme Court announces a major decision, it seems a sensible thing to pause and reflect on the decision’s impact,” Block wrote. “Since HHS has been unwilling to take that path voluntarily, the Court now imposes it.”
The injunction illustrates the early impact of the landmark Supreme Court ruling, which is already changing the nation’s legal landscape. It also delivers a blow to the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to roll back a series of protections for the LGBTQ community.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The director of HHS’s Office for Civil Rights, Roger Severino, had argued the new interpretation would align with what lawmakers originally intended. In a statement in June, HHS said it believed anti-discrimination provisions should apply only to “male or female as determined by biology.” It said the change was part of a a broader effort to eliminate “costly and unnecessary regulatory burdens” that it said were costing American taxpayers $2.9 billion.
But civil rights group described it as an attack on the transgender community that would leave them especially vulnerable to discrimination amid the pandemic. The Human Rights Campaign challenged the rules in court, filing a lawsuit on behalf of two transgender women of color, Tanya Asapansa-Johnson Walker and Cecilia Gentili.
“This is a crucial early victory for our plaintiffs, Tanya and Cecilia, and for the entire LGBTQ community, particularly those who are multiply marginalized and suffering disproportionately from the impacts of the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and racialized violence,” HRC President Alphonso David said in a statement Monday. “We are pleased the Court recognized this irrational rule for what it is: discrimination, plain and simple. LGBTQ Americans deserve the health care that they need without fear of mistreatment, harassment, or humiliation.”
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