What little remained of Joe Biden’s legacy from his presidency has just suffered another blow.
This week, a federal judge ruled against Biden’s healthcare rules for transgender care, which many conservatives believe were putting young children at risk.
The ruling likely stunned liberals who had celebrated a court win earlier on this front in Texas.
Late in Biden’s term, the administration had finalized a rule it touted as protecting transgender people under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
There were several key aspects of the bill said to offer safeguards against discrimination, more access to gender-affirming care, prohibition of coverage exclusions, and the overall scope of coverage of healthcare policies.
Once Donald Trump returned to office, he began to overturn as many of these measures as possible through executive orders, many of which are now being challenged in the courts.
Additionally, there were private challenges lodged against the rules, not all of which ended well, because many of them wound up before liberal judges.
In December 2024, a court ruled against two Texas doctors who were trying to sue the administration over its new transgender care rules.
The court kicked the can down the road by finding that the doctors did not have the proper standing to challenge the rule. The decision was based on the fact that the doctors were challenging the rule as it related to future care, not in reference to any allegation that they had already violated it or were in danger of the government legally pursuing them over a violation.
At the time the court stated, "Plaintiffs themselves do not view their conduct as gender-identity discrimination, nor do they offer any evidence that HHS will view it as such.” The ruling continued, "Plaintiffs have thus failed to show that they are actually violating the Notification, much less that they face a credible threat of enforcement.”
Basically, the court said that the doctors would have to violate the rule before they could file suit, rather than taking proactive measures to protect themselves against possible enforcement.
While the doctors were not successful in their suit, a group of 15 red states just won a huge victory on this front, with Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi striking down the Biden-era rules.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti took a victory lap, stating, "When Biden-era bureaucrats tried to illegally rewrite our laws to force radical gender ideology into every corner of American healthcare, Tennessee stood strong and stopped them. Our fifteen-state coalition worked together to protect the right of healthcare providers across America to make decisions based on evidence, reason, and conscience."
He continued, "This decision restores not just common sense but also constitutional limits on federal overreach, and I am proud of the team of excellent attorneys who fought this through to the finish.”
I have never understood how you can force a doctor to perform an elective surgery, nor do I understand why people are so willing to allow a child who would not be allowed to stay home by themselves to make such a huge life-changing decision. For now, common sense has won, but let’s see how long this holds up before liberals figure out a way to challenge the outcome again.
