In Texas, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, who President George W. Bush appointed, issued a temporary injunction on Dec. 31 that would stop President Obama's administration's regulation that would prevent discrimination in healthcare on the bases of "gender identity" and "termination of pregnancy."
According to BuzzFeed, the lawsuitthat several states and some religiously affiliated nonprofit medical groups broughtchallenges a regulation implementing the sex nondiscrimination requirement in the Affordable Care Act ( ACA ).
Last August, O'Connor issued a nationwide injunction stopping enforcement of the Obama administration's schools guidance because he found it was not permitted under Title IX.
"Judge O'Connor's decision to prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from implementing crucial protections for transgender people seeking healthcare services puts thousands of people at risk of marginalization, harassment, and discrimination at a time they are most vulnerable and in need of inclusive, respectful care," said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow in a statement.
"In addition, limiting access to reproductive healthcare harms millions of Americans including LGBTQ people who rely on reproductive healthcare for a broad range of reasons. While Judge O'Connor's action is unconscionable, we believe that justice will prevail as courts continue to recognize that discrimination on the basis of sex is illegal, including discrimination on the basis of gender identity."
The BuzzFeed piece is at BuzzFeed.com/chrisgeidner/federal-judge-halts-obamacare-transgender-abortion-related-p .