In a significant victory for states’ rights and the protection of individual liberties, a U.S. District Court in Texas has issued a nationwide stay on key provisions of the Biden administration’s controversial Final Rule on Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities.
The court’s decision comes after the states of Texas and Montana challenged the rule, arguing that it overstepped constitutional boundaries and imposed undue burdens on states and healthcare providers.
The Final Rule, issued on May 6, 2024, under the guise of preventing discrimination in healthcare, has been criticized for its broad interpretation of “discrimination on the basis of sex,” a term that the Biden administration sought to expand to include gender identity and sexual orientation.
Critics argue that this interpretation effectively forces healthcare providers, including those with religious objections, to perform procedures or provide services that contradict their deeply held beliefs.
On July 3, 2024, the court initially stayed the rule’s implementation in Texas and Montana. However, following motions from both the plaintiffs and the defendants, the court has now extended this stay nationwide.
The court found that the provisions of the rule challenged by Texas and Montana are likely unlawful as they apply to all participants, not just the plaintiffs in the case. As a result, the rule’s effective date has been postponed for all healthcare providers across the country.
According to the press release:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won a nationwide stay that blocks the Biden Administration from forcing federally-funded healthcare providers to conduct “gender transition” surgeries. Previously, Texas won a stay of agency action that blocked the rule from enforcement in the plaintiff States, Texas and Montana. Applying the same logic, Texas then argued for nationwide relief, and the court has expanded the relief to the entire country.
In May 2024, the Biden Administration promulgated a new rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act that would defund healthcare providers across the country who refuse to perform or pay for experimental, unproven, and potentially dangerous “gender transition” procedures.
Under the rule, any medical institution that refused to perform the procedures could be stripped of all federal healthcare funds, including federal Medicaid and Medicare dollars. The rule further claimed to preempt any state laws forbidding such procedures.
In June 2024, Texas and Montana sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), arguing that the rule was a plainly unconstitutional attempt to override state law. The rule also relied on a misapplication of the Affordable Care Act which never authorized HHS or any government agency to compel institutions to perform or pay for these procedures.
“When Biden and Harris sidestep the Constitution to force their unlawful, extremist agenda on the American public, we are fighting back and stopping them,” said Attorney General Paxton.
“By blocking this destructive policy, which would have forced taxpayer-funded hospitals to conduct unproven and dangerous ‘gender transition’ procedures, Texas has delivered a major victory for Americans across the country.”
Breaking: We have won a nationwide stay of a federal gender-identity mandate, blocking Biden from forcing taxpayer-funded hospitals to conduct “gender transition” surgeries.
When Biden and Harris sidestep the Constitution to force their unlawful, extremist agenda on the American… https://t.co/zoa8TtKsxY
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) August 30, 2024
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