News

Trump Administration Reverses Obama-Era Transgender Civil Rights Protections

It looks like the Trump administration is at it again. Friday, Donnie and his team finalized a regulation that overturns protections for transgender people against discrimination in health care. A protection that was granted when Forever 44, Barack Obama, was in office.

The Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law A.K.A. Obamacare, created civil rights protections in health care, which barred discrimination on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in “any health program or activity” that receives federal financial assistance, according to The New York Times.

This reversal by the Trump Administration is an effort to narrow the legal definition of sex discrimination so it does not include explicit protections for people of the transgender community.

As expected, many LGBTQ groups have expressed that  protections are a must  for those desiring  seeking sex-reassignment treatment.

“We will not let this attack on our basic right to be free from discrimination in health care go unchallenged. We will see them in court, and continue to challenge all of our elected officials to rise up against this blatant attempt to erode critical protections people need and sanction discrimination,” the organization said in a statement.

Also, Roger Severino, the director of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, made it clear that this ruling will be challenged.

“We will not let this attack on our basic right to be free from discrimination in health care go unchallenged. We will see them in court, and continue to challenge all of our elected officials to rise up against this blatant attempt to erode critical protections people need and sanction discrimination,” the organization said in a statement.

According to The New York Times, during the Obama-era, hospitals would be required to perform gender-transition procedures. This was to ensure that no one was discriminated against.

LaJanee