Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has filed a lawsuit challenging a new rule by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The rule redefines the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of "sex" to include "gender identity." If implemented, it would require medical providers to perform surgeries and administer hormone drugs for gender transition to both children and adults, irrespective of a doctor's medical judgment.
The rule also mandates that medical providers allow patients into sex-segregated spaces based on their gender identity rather than biological sex. Additionally, healthcare workers would be required to use gender-affirming pronouns and could face penalties for using biologically accurate pronouns.
“Despite repeated failed attempts, Biden’s Administration continues to illegally mandate that medical providers provide gender-transition procedures or face harsh penalties. Alabama and our coalition partners will not stand for this radical and unconstitutional behavior,” said Attorney General Marshall. “In healthcare of all places, the reality of biological sex matters. The need to protect vulnerable children from sterilizing transitioning procedures matters. Of all the Biden Administration’s misguided efforts, its campaign to replace biological sex with radical gender-identity theory may be the most pernicious because it is so obviously harmful and so obviously untrue.”
In 2016, a similar policy proposed by the Obama Administration was declared unlawful by federal courts when it prioritized gender ideology over reasonable medical practices. The states bringing this lawsuit expect a similar outcome.
The new HHS rule could significantly impact states like Alabama that restrict gender-transition interventions for minors and prohibit public funds from paying for these procedures. Non-compliant entities risk losing substantial federal funding, including billions in state Medicaid funds intended for low-income individuals, and face potential civil liability through private lawsuits.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Alabama joined Tennessee and Mississippi in leading the suit, with support from Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia.