Missouri’s Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, has launched a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Biden administration. The legal action, filed on Wednesday, takes issue with a rule that is alleged to force medical professionals into performing sex reassignment surgeries.
The rule in question prevents health care providers and insurance companies, who receive federal funding, from denying services based on a patient’s gender identity or sexual orientation. Critics, including legal experts who have spoken to the Daily Caller News Foundation, suggest this could potentially push religiously affiliated hospitals and physicians into carrying out sex change procedures.
“Doctors should not be compelled to harm children. But a new final rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act forces doctors to perform, refer for, or affirm harmful gender-transition procedures and forces States to pay for these dangerous procedures in state health plans,” the lawsuit reads.
This controversial rule was introduced by the HHS on April 26 as part of the Affordable Care Act. The plaintiffs, which include six other states and the American College of Pediatricians, are urging the court to declare this rule “unlawful”.
NEW:https://t.co/6VUqocKSLL pic.twitter.com/YtOZU8ntDg
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) July 10, 2024
The lawsuit further contends that the rule violates First and Fifth Amendment rights of health care providers. It also asserts that its establishment was unconstitutional and “exceeds Congress’s Article I enumerated powers and transgresses on the reserved powers of the States,” as stated in a press release from Bailey’s office.
“Joe Biden is once again exceeding his legal authority in order to force his radical transgender ideology onto the American people,” the attorney general said in a statement.
“His administration is threatening to hold federal funding hostage from any healthcare provider that refuses to perform or affirm harmful and irreversible transgender procedures,” Bailey said.
In Missouri, the Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act, effective since August 2023, prohibits health care providers from performing sex reassignment surgeries on minors until August 28, 2027.
The states joining Missouri in this legal challenge include Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah.