Federal Judge Says Doctors Can Refuse To Treat Trans Patients Based On Religious Beliefs

Texas AG Ken Paxton, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor Strike Again

A rabidly anti-LGBT federal judge in Texas has blocked the Obama administration from implementing a rule that prohibits discrimination against transgender people and women seeking abortion-related treatment under the Affordable Care Act. 

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor on Saturday granted a nationwide injunction halting enforcement of the nondiscrimination rule, which was set to take effect Sunday, The Washington Blade reports. The injunction comes in response to a lawsuit filed in August by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (pictured) on behalf of several states and religiously affiliated health care providers. The plaintiffs allege the nondiscrimination rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  

“The federal government has no right to force Texans to pay for medical procedures designed to change a person’s sex,” Paxton said in a statement at the time. “I am disappointed in the Obama Administration’s lack of consideration for medical professionals who believe that engaging in such procedures or treatment violates their Hippocratic Oath, their conscience, or their personal religious beliefs, which are protected by the Constitution and federal law.”

Mara Keisling, executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, called O’Connor’s injunction “another predictable, baseless ruling by a judge who state officials sought out specifically because he could be relied on to deliver a ruling hostile to transgender people.” 

“Numerous other courts have rejected Judge O’Connor’s reasoning, and every major medical association in the country has rejected the premise of this lawsuit and agreed that transgender people should be treated equally when it comes to their health care needs,” Keisling told the Blade.

Earlier this year, O’Connor issued a nationwide injunction barring the Obama administration from implementing guidance saying trans students should be allowed to use restrooms in public schools based on their gender identity. And in 2015, he issued a ruling that sought to prevent gay employees from taking unpaid leave to care for their sick spouses. Both of those decisions also came in response to lawsuits from Paxton.