Judge Blocks Biden’s Transgender Health Rule Nationwide

In a significant legal development, a federal judge has put a nationwide halt to a Biden administration rule designed to protect transgender people from discrimination in healthcare. This decision comes after 15 Republican-led states challenged the policy, arguing it overstepped federal authority.

The Rule and the Ruling

The rule in question, based on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, aimed to expand the definition of sex discrimination to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. This meant that healthcare providers and insurers receiving federal funds would be prohibited from denying care, particularly gender-affirming treatments, to transgender individuals.

However, U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. in Mississippi ruled on Wednesday that the Department of Health and Human Services had “exceeded its authority.” He stated that the law should be interpreted based on the understanding of “sex” as it was defined when the statute was originally passed in 1972, focusing on biological differences.

A Back-and-Forth History

This isn’t the first time this policy has faced legal challenges. The rule was initially introduced under President Obama in 2016 but was later rolled back by the Trump administration, which narrowed the definition of sex discrimination to “biological sex.” The Biden administration reinstated the broader protections in 2024, only for Judge Guirola’s decision to reverse that move again.

Although the rule had not yet gone into effect, Judge Guirola’s ruling applies across the country. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti praised the decision, calling it a restoration of “common sense and also constitutional limits on federal overreach.”