New Trump Administration Rule Would Weaken Protections For Transgender People In Health Care

The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday proposed a new rule that civil rights groups warn may be used to deny care to transgender patients. HHS director of the Office for Civil Rights Roger Severino said the change will bring the regulations in line with what lawmakers originally intended, before the definition of gender was broadened under the Obama administration. “When Congress prohibited sex discrimination, it did so according to the plain meaning of the term, and we are making our regulations conform,” Severino said. Members of Congress, state governors, medical associations and civil rights groups immediately vowed to fight the proposed regulation. “It’s about the right of every American to be treated with dignity when they walk into an emergency room, meet a new doctor or find the right insurance plan.