Biden bans discrimination against LGBTQ people in healthcare

The Biden administration has reversed a Trump-era policy that allowed healthcare providers to discriminate against LGBTQ people if they claimed a religious exemption.

The move will reinstate Obamacare guidance and expand them to include the recent Supreme Court ruling that sex discrimination includes sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences,“ the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Everyone – including LGBTQ people – should be able to access healthcare, free from discrimination or interference, period.”

The Trump administration claimed protections against sex discrimination only extended to “male or female as determined by biology.” But just three days after the rule was announced, the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that the ban on discrimination “because of sex” in Title VII in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes anti-LGBTQ discrimination when it comes to employment. The landmark victory has affected how a broad array of anti-discrimination protections apply to LGBTQ people.