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A federal appeals court has ruled against a Texas doctor who tried to sue President Joe Biden’s administration. transgender policy This week.
The three judges on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals did not rule on the merits of the case, but unanimously held that the doctors did not have standing to sue. The court’s ruling on Monday said the doctors did not violate the policy and did not face any threat of enforcement.
Biden policy bans discrimination against transgender people in health care. Monday’s ruling overturned a previous decision in the doctor’s favor by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.
Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services announced a rule change for 2021, choosing to interpret a section of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits sex discrimination to also apply to transgender people. Three Texas doctors argued the interpretation went beyond the text of the law.
Texas doctors are looking to challenge President Biden’s transgender policies. (Nathaniel Pavlovsky, Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File photo)
Doctors further argue that the policy could force them to undergo treatments they do not support. They cited examples such as prostate cancer in transgender women, which requires treatment based on a person’s biological sex.
The ruling comes just weeks after the Supreme Court heard arguments Among its cases on transgender policy, one involves whether the Constitution allows states to ban transgender surgeries on minors.
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The Supreme Court’s conservative justices appeared unwilling to overturn the Tennessee law at issue in the case during oral arguments. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh said state legislatures, not the courts, are best equipped to regulate medical procedures. Roberts noted during the debate that the Constitution leaves these issues to “the representatives of the people” rather than to the nine justices of the Supreme Court, “none of whom are doctors.”
A transgender rights supporter attends a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court. (Getty Images)
However, Justice Samuel Alito cited “overwhelming evidence” from some medical studies outlining the negative consequences for teenagers who undergo gender transition therapy. If the justices uphold the lower court’s ruling along party lines, it would have broad implications for the more than 20 U.S. states that have adopted similar laws.
Petitioners in the case are represented by the Biden administration and the American Civil Liberties Union, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of the parents of three transgender teenagers and a Memphis doctor seeking to overturn the Tennessee law.
During the debate, a table on the Democratic side of the Kansas House of Representatives was decorated with flags supporting LGBTQ+ rights. (AP Photo/John Hanna, File)
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At issue during Wednesday’s oral arguments was the degree of scrutiny the court should use to evaluate whether state bans on transgender medical care for minors, such as SB1, are constitutional and whether those laws are considered discrimination on the basis of sex. Or for “quasi-sexism.” -suspicious category” and therefore require a higher level of scrutiny under the equal protection clause constitutional.
Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch and Reuters contributed to this report.
