Appeals court shuts down Texas doctors suing Biden admin over transgender policy

[Jessica_Rose]

Appeals court shuts down Texas doctors suing Biden admin over transgender policy

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/appeals-court-shuts-down-texas-doctors-suing-biden-admin-over-transgender-policy/ar-AA1w68MY?ocid=windirect&cvid=a61f6a1fd6904f268688595aa04e4ca6&ei=57

Story by Anders Hagstrom (18 Dec 2024)

A federal appeals court ruled against Texas doctors who had tried to sue President Biden's administration over its transgender policies this week.

The three judges making up the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals did not rule on the merits of the case, but instead unanimously found that the doctors did not have standing to sue. The court's Monday decision asserted that the doctors had not violated the policy, nor did they face any threat of enforcement.

The Biden policy bans discrimination against transgender people in health care. Monday's ruling overturns a previous favorable decision for the doctors handed down by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.

Biden's Health and Human Services Department announced a rule change in 2021, choosing to interpret a section of the Affordable Care Act that banned discrimination on the basis of sex to also apply to transgender people. The three Texas doctors argued that interpretation goes beyond the text of the law.

The doctors further argued that the policy could force them to administer treatments they do not support. They cited examples like prostate cancer in a transgender woman, which would require treatment based on the individual's biological sex.