By Steve Gorman
The federal government forms for applying for health coverage are seen at a rally held by supporters of the Affordable Care Act, widely referred to as ''Obamacare'', outside the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center in Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. on October 4, 2013.REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman
A federal judge in Texas on Saturday issued a court
order barring enforcement of an Obama administration policy seeking to extend
anti-discrimination protections under the Affordable Care Act to transgender
health and abortion-related services.
The decision sides with Texas, seven other states and
three Christian-affiliated healthcare groups challenging a rule that, according
to the judge, defines sex bias to include "discrimination on the basis of
gender identity and termination of pregnancy."
In granting an injunction one day before the new
policy was to take effect, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor held that it
violates the Administrative Procedure Act, a federal law governing rule-making
practices.
The judge also ruled that plaintiffs were likely to
prevail in court on their claim that the new policy infringes on the rights of
private healthcare providers under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
As explained in O'Connor's 46-page opinion, the
plaintiffs argued that the new regulation would "require them to perform
and provide insurance coverage for gender transitions and abortions, regardless
of their contrary religious beliefs or medical judgment."
The same judge issued a similar court order in August
blocking a separate Obama administration policy that would have required public
schools, over the objections of 13 states, to allow transgender students to use
restrooms of their choice.
It was not immediately clear whether the Obama
administration, which has just 20 days left in office, would seek to appeal the
latest injunction.
White House spokeswoman Katie Hill decried the ruling.
"Today's decision is a setback, but hopefully a
temporary one, since all Americans - regardless of their sex, gender identity
or sexual orientation - should have access to quality, affordable health care
free from discrimination," she said.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as
Obamacare, was passed in 2010 with an anti-discrimination section designed to
prevent insurers from charging customers more or denying coverage based on age,
race, national origin, disability or sex.
The rule in dispute on Saturday was adopted by the
U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Department to implement those provisions,
including definitions for sex discrimination that encompassed transgender and
abortion services.
According to the court opinion, gender identity was
defined under that rule as "an individual's internal sense of gender,
which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female, and
which may be different from an individual's sex assigned at birth."
The state of Texas has led a string of legal cases
brought by Republican-controlled states contesting various social policies
advanced by President Barack Obama, most notably his 2014 executive action to
protect millions of immigrants in the United States illegally and give them
work permits.
That plan, challenged by Texas and other states, has
been barred by the courts. But the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 and 2015 issued
rulings that kept the Affordable Care Act, his top legislative achievement,
intact.
(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Honolulu;
Editing by Mary Milliken)
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