More than once, most recently in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden has told trans youth he has their backs. While welcoming his words, some activists have wondered—beyond rhetoric—what that commitment amounted to.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will now use the weight of the law against attempts to restrict trans teens’ access to gender-affirming health care, as well as countering the threats to the health care professionals who provide it.
In doing so, the White House has signaled it is ready to fight in the courts not just Texas, mentioned specifically in the newly published legal guidance, but also the multiple Republican legislatures seeking to outlaw such health care, criminalizing both parents and health care providers.
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