A judge tells federal agencies they can't enforce anti-trans bias policies...

Jessica_Rose · June 06, 2025, 05:04:20 AM

A judge tells federal agencies they can't enforce anti-trans bias policies against Catholic groups

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-judge-tells-federal-agencies-they-can-t-enforce-anti-trans-bias-policies-against-catholic-groups/ar-AA1GbahT?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=1333c7aceed74c79d81d83b75da03d07&ei=32

Story by JACK DURA and JOHN HANNA (5 June 2025)

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Two federal agencies cannot punish Catholic employers and health care providers if they refuse for religious reasons to provide gender-affirming care to transgender patients or won't provide health insurance coverage for such care to their workers, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Peter Welte, the chief federal judge in North Dakota, bars the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing a health care rule it imposed in 2024 under Democratic President Joe Biden. The rule said that existing policies against sex discrimination covered discrimination based on gender identity, so that health care providers risked losing federal funds if they refused to provide gender-affirming care.

Welte also barred the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from telling employers that a failure to have health plans cover gender-affirming care for their workers would represent discrimination based on sex that could lead to a lawsuit against them and penalties.

But he concluded that allowing the two agencies to enforce policies on gender-affirming care or health coverage for it would restrict employers' and health care providers' ability to live out their religious beliefs, violating a 1992 federal law meant to provide broad protections for religious freedoms.

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A judge tells federal agencies they can't enforce anti-trans bias policies...

Jessica_Rose