The Trump administration finalised a rule that revokes protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in healthcare.
The Department of Health and Human Services said it will now enforce sex discrimination protections in accordance with the biological meaning of sex i.e. male or female rather than a combination or neither.
The move undermines the Obama-era policy which sought to introduce a broader understanding of gender in US policy.
The news has alarmed the LGBTQ community who say transgender people require specific protections in healthcare when seeking medical treatment such as sex reassignment surgery, hormone treatment or for common illnesses such as diabetes or heart disease.
But American conservatives who support Trump’s move say they disagree with the medically recognised condition of “gender dysmorphia” – which can result in severe depression and a host of other health issues – and argue that Obama had no legal right to enforce such changes.
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Speaking to USA Today, Mary Beth Waddell of the religious conservative Family Research Council, said: “Under the old Obama rule, medical professionals could have been forced to facilitate gender reassignment surgeries and abortions – even if they believed this was a violation of their conscience or believed it harmful to the patient.”
It is outrageous that Trump, in the middle of a pandemic, is working to prevent LGBTQ+ Americans from getting health care they need. Discrimination of any kind has no place in our society. We must defeat Trump, guarantee health care as a right and protect all LGBTQ+ Americans. https://t.co/aNhYc2R4M5
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 12, 2020
Roger Severino, head of the Health and Human Services Department, said transgender people will continue to be protected in health care and disputes that the scrapping of the Obama policy is a discriminatory exercise.
Severino said: “HHS respects the dignity of every human being. We are unwavering in our commitment to enforcing civil rights in health care.”
The move is the latest in a series of steps to revoke protections for LGBTQ people in America. In December, measures introduced by Obama to safeguard transgender prisoners from being harassed, assaulted and sexually abused were scrapped, too.
This means that gender identity will not be considered when making decisions on where transgender inmates are housed within the prison system, with officials now using "biological sex as the initial determination".
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But with pride celebrations currently taking place across the globe, many LGBTQ activists and women’s groups feel Trump’s rollback is an attack on LGBTQ rights as well as access to abortion.
Speaking to USA Today, Fatima Goss Graves, President of the National Women’s Law Center, said: “No one should fear being turned away by a medical provider because of who they are or the personal health decisions they have made.”
As we grieve the murders of Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells and Riah Milton, @realDonaldTrump is leading a direct attack on the lives of trans Americans everywhere. Trans rights are humans rights. Those are rights that will ALWAYS be upheld in New York City.https://t.co/TC0tGOAUUz
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 13, 2020
There are also concerns that Trump's rollback will prove detrimental to transgender people in their ability to seek and receive the appropriate healthcare in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jody Herman, a public policy expert at the Williams Institute, said: “The changes to this rule could further harm transgender people’s health care access at a time when they face serious challenges related to COVID-19."
The American Civil Liberties Union says it is already taking steps to prevent the rollback of protections for transgender people.
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