West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey announced a victory in a multistate lawsuit challenging a Biden-era U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule that would have coerced healthcare providers into providing sex-change procedures. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi agreed with the fifteen-state coalition, led by Mississippi and Tennessee, that HHS exceeded its authority by redefining unlawful “sex” discrimination under the Affordable Care Act to include discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
“We have again successfully fought back federal overreach. Agencies do not have the authority to rewrite sex discrimination laws—only Congress does. This is a reasonable and right decision, and we are glad the court agreed with our coalition,” Attorney General McCuskey said.
“The Biden Administration attempted to import its radical theories on gender identity into ObamaCare, forcing healthcare providers to perform surgeries or prescribe drugs even if it violated their best medical judgment,” said Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “I am proud to stand with my colleagues from across the country as we fight to undo the Biden administration’s extremist political agenda.”
The Court explains, “Congress only contemplated biological sex when it enacted Title IX in 1972. Therefore, the Court finds that HHS exceeded its authority by implementing regulations redefining sex discrimination and prohibiting gender-identity discrimination.”
Along with Tennessee and Mississippi, West Virginia joined Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia. The Court ordered universal vacatur, applying to all states, not just the plaintiff-states.
A copy of the final order can be found here.
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