Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) introduced legislation on Friday aimed at blocking the Biden administration from implementing new rules that would expand the definition of “sex” in federal health care anti-discrimination law to include “gender identity.”
Opponents of the rule, proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services and set to take effect on July 5, say it risks ignoring state laws banning sex-reassignment surgery and could force religious health care providers to perform sex-reassignment surgery as well as abortions.
Conservatives also worry that changes to the Affordable Care Act would require all health insurers, including taxpayer-funded programs like Medicaid and Medicare, to cover transgender surgery.
Sen. Marshall’s joint resolution, supported by six other Senate Republicans, expresses opposition to the HHS rule under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn regulations with a slim majority vote in both houses.
“Time is of the essence, and we will fight like hell to overturn this radical ruling by Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services,” Marshall told the Post.
“This is a dangerous abuse of power,” the Kansas Republican added. “Our Founding Fathers would turn over in their graves if they knew that the President of the United States was trying to fund gender reassignment surgery with taxpayer dollars.”
Marshall, who worked as an obstetrician-gynaecologist before entering politics, argued that “gender is not fluid and gender is non-negotiable.”
“We continue to sound the alarm, even though it seems there are no rational voices being heard at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said. “The Department of Health and Human Services should be concerned about the safety, health and well-being of Americans, and stop giving in to the radical left by promoting child amputations.”
The new restrictions reinstate Obama-era provisions targeting transgender individuals that the Trump administration rescinded in 2020.
Since the Obama administration, courts have issued conflicting decisions regarding the provisions of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.
of The lengthy HHS rule states: A covered entity may not “deny or limit health care services, including health care services that are typically or exclusively provided to or associated with individuals of one sex, on the basis of sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or other recorded sex” or “deny or limit health care services requested for the purpose of gender transition or other gender reassignment health care that a covered entity provides to an individual for other purposes if the denial or limit is based on sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or other recorded sex.”
Some conservatives interpret this to mean, for example, that doctors who prescribe hormones to adult women to treat a variety of illnesses and conditions would be legally required to also prescribe them to transgender youth.
Marshall’s attempt to use the Congressional Review Act to repeal the regulation is unlikely to succeed.
CRA Rarely successfulAnd even if the narrowly Republican House and Democratic-controlled Senate approve Marshall’s joint resolution, President Biden is unlikely to sign it into law.
“I’m happy to be part of this fight,” Marshall said of his long-shot effort. “Nothing is more important than protecting our kids.”
