U.S. federal court shuts down Biden mandate to force Catholic hospitals to perform transgender surgeries
'We now have two different federal court of appeals saying the Biden administration is permanently blocked from forcing religious doctors and hospitals,' said Luke Goodrich, attorney with the Becket Fund.
A federal court has shut down a Biden administration mandate that would have violated the religious rights of several Catholic organizations by forcing them to perform or pay for transgender surgeries.
On Friday, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the decision by a North Dakota lower court to grant permanent injunctive relief to block the Biden administration’s mandate because of its “intrusion upon the Catholic Plaintiffs’ exercise of religion is sufficient to show irreparable harm.”
As detailed by the National Review, the decision reflects a previous Texas case in August, where the Fifth Circuit court permanently blocked the Biden administration’s efforts to force doctors affiliated with Christian medical associations to provide “gender-affirming care” to individuals who identify as transgender.
The plaintiffs in the Texas case against the Biden administration included Christian medical associations representing thousands of doctors.
“We now have two different federal court of appeals saying the Biden administration is permanently blocked from forcing religious doctors and hospitals” to perform transgender surgeries in violation of their conscience, said Luke Goodrich, attorney with the Becket Fund, who represents the plaintiffs.
National Review reported:
Litigation was first initiated in 2016 over implementation of Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, an antidiscrimination clause that would have compelled religious medical institutions that receive federal funding to perform and cover gender transitions, according to the plaintiffs.
Section 1557 prohibits a federally funded or administered health program or activity from denying benefits to an individual on the basis of sex as outlined in Title IX. The Biden administration doubled down on the 2016 principle in a revised rule.
During the legal fight, the Biden administration objected that the plaintiffs couldn’t prove that Section 1557 would be enforced against them because they hadn’t had the opportunity to try yet. The Eighth Circuit on Friday said this explanation amounted to a “concession that they may do so.”
As for what comes next, the Biden administration’s options for recourse are to seek re-hearing from the Eighth Circuit or to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Goodrich said.
The Biden administration is unlikely to fight the ruling, for now.
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