The Biden administration announced Monday the U.S. will once again ban health-care providers from discriminating against LGBTQ and transgender people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The move comes as a sharp rebuke of Trump-era policies that narrowed the scope of anti-discrimination provisions in the Affordable Care Act by defining "sex" to mean gender assigned at birth, reports PBS News. Biden's Department of Health and Human Services now restores the Obama-era definition — "one's internal sense of gender, which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female." The new interpretation applies to any healthcare organization that receives federal funding.
"It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone — including L.G.B.T.Q. people — should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period," said Health Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement, per The New York Times.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The new policy brings the Biden administration in line with last year's landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled to protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination at work, and is the latest effort from President Biden to strengthen LGBTQ protections in areas like the military, housing and employment. In addition to sharing their support, some members of Congress have used the news as an opportunity to promote the Senate passage of the Equality Act. Brigid Kennedy
-
The party bringing Trump-style populism to JapanUnder The Radar Far-right party is ‘Rise of Sanseito is ‘shattering’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism
-
Southern barbecue: This year’s top threeFeature A weekend-only restaurant, a 90-year-old pitmaster, and more
-
Film reviews: Anemone and The Smashing MachineFeature A recluse receives an unwelcome guest and a pioneering UFC fighter battles addiction
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
