WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last night, America First Legal (AFL) sued the Biden Administration on behalf of a class of doctors, seeking to prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services from forcing medical professionals to provide unethical transgender-related medical services. 

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act prohibits “sex” discrimination in any health program or activity that receives federal funds. Three months ago, HHS announced that it will “interpret and enforce” section 1557 to prohibit: (1) “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation”; and (2) “discrimination on the basis of gender identity.” But nothing in section 1557 prohibits discrimination on account of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity”—and nothing in this statute requires doctors and health-care providers to deny biological reality by providing “gender-affirming” healthcare. 

HHS’s interpretation of section 1557 threatens every medical provider who refuses to bow to the demands of homosexual and transgender activists. It allows anyone to file a complaint against a doctor who refuses to provide services or referrals that violate his ethical or religious beliefs, and if HHS determines that doctor engaged in discrimination based on “sexual orientation” or “gender identity,” that doctor would face significant consequences—including fines, penalties, and lack of access to patients who use federally-backed insurance plans (such as Medicare and Medicaid).

AFL is proud to represent the class of doctors in this case to stop the Biden Administration from using the government as a cudgel to advance its radical anti-science, anti-medicine, and anti-religious-freedom agenda. 

Read the full lawsuit here.