The Department of Health and Human Services issued a proposed rule surrounding section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This rule rolls back previous action taken by President Obama that wrongfully interpreted the word “sex” to include “gender identity” and “termination of pregnancy” and prohibited so-called discrimination against these classes. This means that doctors who do not want to perform gender transition treatments would be forced to and doctors who don’t want to participate in abortions would be forced to participate, even if they have objections on moral or religious grounds.
This new rule clarifies that Section 1557 of the ACA cannot force a recipient of federal funding to provide or pay for an abortion. It will also be consistent with the First Amendment, the intent and language of civil rights laws, and consistent with pro-life provisions, conscience provisions, and religious liberty protections in current law. This rule is a timely clarification that the federal definition of sex discrimination in the ACA does not include abortion or gender transition treatments and thus aligns with existing civil rights laws. For many healthcare providers, performing abortions or gender transition treatments is a violation of conscience and sound medical practice.
We need your help commenting on this proposed rule so that it will move forward. You may remember that these proposed rules go through a public comment period, and then the issuing agency has to take public comments into account crafting a final rule. President Trump needs you to submit a comment praising this rule. Although these Obama-era rules never went into effect, HHS needs to uphold the biological definition of sex in civil rights laws. This proposed rule is now open for a public comment period that will close on August 13, 2019. After the comment period closes, HHS must then review each comment and issue a final ruling based on feedback. Therefore, our voice on this matter is crucial.
We’ve made it easy for you! Simply Click here to be taken to a page where we further explain what this rule is, provide a sample comment, and a place for personalization. You can submit an official comment with just one click!
Please join us and use your voice to tell President Trump to continue to protect religious liberty! Take action by next Tuesday, August 13.