After the Department of Health and Human Services announced on Friday that it would scrap an Obama-era policy that expressly forbade health care providers from discriminating against transgender patients, advocacy groups and lawmakers alike began criticizing the move as damaging to a vulnerable group of Americans.
The pending change reverts regulations back to prohibiting discrimination solely based on sex, not gender identity. "When Congress prohibited sex discrimination, it did so according to the plain meaning of the term, and we are making our regulations conform," HHS Director of the Office for Civil Rights Roger Severino told The Washington Post.
Democrats who are running for president in 2020 wasted no time in decrying the Trump administration.
We cannot let this go unnoticed: The Trump administration is on a quest to turn back the clock on our #HealthCareRights and allow for widespread discrimination in health care for women and LGBTQ Americans. https://t.co/4Nuka4ha5A
— Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (@gillibrandny) May 24, 2019
Trans rights are human rights. https://t.co/WjmL2hpu0T
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) May 24, 2019
The Trump Admin. is putting lives in jeopardy and undermining equal access to health care for all workers and all families, We will not sit quietly while the administration establishes separate and unequal policies that harm the transgender community.
— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) May 24, 2019
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) pointed out another aspect of the HHS change: As Axios reports, the rolled-back nondiscrimination policy could also let adoption agencies reject same-sex couples, leaning on new religious exemptions.
This is unconstitutional, un-American, and must be stopped. Period.https://t.co/quXqZInQ5o
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 24, 2019
The National Center for Transgender Equality has vowed to fight the proposed change — once the policy is rewritten it will surely face several legal challenges, something many 2020 Democrats suggested is necessary.
In a country dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, all have the right to pursue happiness, & it’s govt’s responsibility to secure those rights, We the People should not tolerate Trump’s active attacks against transgender protection. https://t.co/NHpwWogARu
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) May 24, 2019
Transgender people face enough challenges in the world. This proposal leaves them even more vulnerable. It's cruel, inhumane, and could be fatal. We're better than this. Everyone deserves a safe place to lay their head. https://t.co/oAaeHei6pZ
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 24, 2019
