Federal Judge blocks transgender people from Obamacare protections

[stephaniec]

Federal Judge blocks transgender people from Obamacare protections

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/01/01/federal-judge-blocks-transgender-people-from-obamacare-protections/

Pink News/By Meka Beresford 1st January 2017, 1:31 PM

"A federal judge in Texas has ordered a court order barring anti-discrimination protections under the Affordable Care Act to transgender health and abortion related services.
According to District Judge Reed O'Connor, the rule defines sex bias to include "discrimination on the basis of gender identity and termination of pregnancy." "

[Deborah]

As the article states, his reason is so as not to offend Christians by mandating that we cannot be refused medical care.  It is likely we will be written out of most insurance next year.


It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
André Gide, Autumn Leaves

[stephaniec]

Pretty sad that Jesus is being used this way, that's all I'll say  otherwise I'd get in trouble

[Brooke]

Agreed. Sadly history has shown us that many unjust acts are done in the name of God.

Funny how that is so clear in hindsight and yet we keep repeating the same mistakes


Hugs,
~Brooke~

[SophieD]

It is likely we will be written out of most insurance next year.

I have the same worry.  That would be a blow, to say the least.

[WorkingOnThomas]

Are we allowed to point out that Reed O'Connor, the judge concerned, is a Republican? Or are we supposed to continue to pretend that one of our two major political parties doesn't hate LGBTQ people and is actively working to make us second class citizens? When do we get to be honest about that?

[itsApril]

Judge O'Conner was appointed by George W. Bush to a vacancy in the District Court for the Northern District of Texas.  He was assigned to the most remote federal courthouse in the District: Wichita Falls, TX.  This federal court branch is so small that O'Conner is the only judge regularly assigned there.

This case was maneuvered into Judge O'Conner's court by ultra-right-wing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who got an earlier case assigned there by filing a bathroom challenge on behalf of a tiny rural school district near Wichita Falls.

Here's an article showing the mechanics of how this worked:

http://www.law.com/sites/almstaff/2016/08/24/why-conservative-states-handpicked-this-texas-judge-for-transgender-bathroom-challenge/?slreturn=20170002165907

Why Conservative States Handpicked This Texas Judge for Transgender Bathroom Challenge
BY JOHN COUNCIL
LAW.com, AUG 24, 2016

  "Soon after he was seated as a federal judge, O'Connor was handed the least favorite duty among Northern District of Texas jurists—handling the docket for the Wichita Falls Division. That assignment requires a Northern District judge to make a monthly four-hour round trip drive to a wind-blown courthouse where the docket mainly consists of prisoner civil rights suits filed by inmates of nearby North Texas penitentiaries.

* * *

  "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has made a career out of attempting to block Obama administration initiatives and fighting against the rights of LGBT people, likely calculated that he'd have a sympathetic judge when he filed the transgender bathroom initiative challenge in front of O'Connor along with several other states this year.

  "That's because in 2015, O'Connor granted Paxton's request not to extend family and medical leave benefits to same-sex couples. . . .

* * *

  "Then Paxton sought out O'Connor's court again to fight the Obama administration's transgender bathroom initiative by filing the challenge on behalf of a small school district located near Wichita Falls."


Basically, Judge O'Conner is now the right wing's "go-to" federal judge for attacks on LGBT rights.  Putting cases involving LGBT rights in his courtroom not only places them before an ultra-conservative judge, but also makes sure that the rights of LGBT people throughout the country will be analyzed and determined according to community standards prevailing in Wichita Falls, TX, one of the most conservative and backwards counties in America.

It's going to be a LONG four years.

[Katelyn]

Have to say that California has a separate law barring discrimination of transgender people from healthcare, that was passed in 2013. 

I would hope that anyone who is transgender and that lives between the state of New York and the state of California, be doing as much as they can to move to a coastal blue state.  I wouldn't leave the West Coast even if I had to sleep in my car.

[Deborah]

If a federal "religious freedom" law is passed then it won't matter what state you live in.


It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
André Gide, Autumn Leaves

[Paige]

And so we begin 2017.  This isn't going to be pretty.

[Janes Groove]

Are we allowed to point out that Reed O'Connor, the judge concerned, is a Republican? Or are we supposed to continue to pretend that one of our two major political parties doesn't hate LGBTQ people and is actively working to make us second class citizens? When do we get to be honest about that?

The smart money is on pretend. This has thread lock written all over it.

[Katelyn]

If a federal "religious freedom" law is passed then it won't matter what state you live in.


It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
André Gide, Autumn Leaves

Unless the insurance company claims it has a religion and helping TG people is infringing on it, I don't think an insurance company can get an exception.

I doubt that a California Health Insurance / healthcare company like Kaiser Permanente will go that far to deny healthcare to transgender people.

[Cindy]

Locked for review