A federal judge on Friday invalidated a Biden Administration rule that told the Department of Health and Human Services to make sex change procedures and hormone therapy available to everyone, including children.
The Daily Caller reported that in May 2021, Biden's HHS interpreted a provision of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits doctors from discriminating on the basis of sex to also cover sexual orientation and gender identity.
Two doctors who were represented by the America First Legal Foundation filed a class action lawsuit after the HHS took the action.
"As noted above, the ordinary public meaning of 'sex' turned on reproductive function when Congress enacted Title IX," Judge Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, wrote. "For an action to occur 'on the basis of sex,' biological sex must be the motivating factor."
The judge argued that it was improper for the Biden administration to interpret Title IX to encompass "gender identity" and that it could not be changed unless Congress introduced legislation to that effect or the Supreme Court made a different decision.
The judge went on to say that by extending sex rights to those who identified with a sex other than their biological sex, the intent of Title IX had been undermined.
"Defendants' reinterpretation of Title IX through the Notification imperils the very opportunities for women Title IX was designed to promote and protect — categorically forcing biological women to compete against biological men."
In several states, the practice of sex change therapies on minors has been illegal. Hormone therapy and sex change surgeries are now forbidden for youngsters under the age of 18 in Florida, according to the state's board of medicine. Legislators from Tennessee submitted a measure on Wednesday that would make these acts illegal.
California responded to the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade during last week's midterm elections by voting to include a "right to abortion" in the state constitution.
“All-trimester abortion”.
That’s what’s on your ballot with Prop 1 California.
Abortion up to the time of birth.
VOTE NO. pic.twitter.com/HcRBSzYcJY
— Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) November 8, 2022
With 41% of the votes counted, the New York Times forecasts that Prop 1 will win by a margin of 30 points. NBC News forecasts that the proposed amendment will pass by the same margin after 46% of the ballots have been counted.
"Proposition 1 changes the California Constitution to say that the state cannot deny or interfere with a person's reproductive freedom and that people have the fundamental right to choose," California's Legislative Analyst's office said.