Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, age, disability, and sex in “covered health programs and activities” that receive federal assistance. In 2016, the Obama Administration proposed a rule that claimed that “sex” also included pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Under President Trump, the definition of “sex” was reverted to its commonsense definition. 

But after the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton that sex does include gender identity and sexual orientation, the Biden Administration not only reinstated the Obama-era ACA rule but made it even more radical. Concerned Women for America and other like-minded groups have fought against the rule since its proposal, but the Administration proceeded regardless of the pushback. The new rule, finalized on May 6th of this year, expands the definition of sex discrimination to include “sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, including intersex traits; and pregnancy (this includes history of abortion) or related conditions.”

The result is that most insurance plans will be required to cover transgender “healthcare,” including puberty blocker prescriptions, cross-sex hormones, and dangerous gender-transition surgeries, as well as abortions and related procedures. These insurance plans will likely become more expensive in order to expand their coverage, meaning Americans will be paying more in order to cover services the vast majority do not agree with. 

Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas 21st) have introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) to undo the new rule. Tell your members of Congress to support that bill and put a halt to this egregious attack on conscience rights.