JUDGE NOW HOLDS FATE OF
OBAMA'S MANDATORY TRANSGENDER TREATMENT FOR KIDS, Decision on lawsuit expected before new rule takes effect
Jan. 1, by Bob Unruh, 12/20/16, WND
A Texas court is expected to make a
decision before New Year’s Day on one of President Obama’s newest
transgender mandates, which would require doctors to provide transgender
treatment for kids who desire it. That treatment would be required
under Obama’s federal rule even if the physician is convinced it would
harm the child.
The
case was brought by the Becket Fund on behalf of the Christian Medical & Dental
Associations, the Franciscan Alliance and the states of Texas, Kansas,
Kentucky, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
Another case on the issue also has
been filed on behalf of the Religious Sisters of Mercy, Sacred Heart Mercy
Health Care Center in Jackson, Minnesota; Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center
in Alma, Mississippi; SMP Health System; the University of Mary; and North
Dakota.
The Becket Fund said Tuesday
that one case had been heard in a Texas court by U.S. District Judge Reed
O’Connor in Wichita Falls about how the Obama plan will impose treatment
requirements on doctors “even if the doctor’s best medical judgment is that
treatment could harm the child.”
“We made the argument that it’s
incredibly improper for the government to invade the important doctor-patient
relationship, and it shouldn’t be mandating doctors to perform procedures
against their best medical judgement,” said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel at
Becket Law. “Personal medical decisions about the welfare of a child should be
free from political agendas and interference by bureaucrats.”
The organization explained that the
new rule is to apply to more than 900,000 physicians – nearly every doctor in
the U.S.
And it would cost health-care
providers nearly $1 billion – even though government experts say its own Medicare
and Medicaid programs will not cover in even for adults because they believe
“clinical literature is ‘inconclusive’ on whether gender reassignment surgery
improves health outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries with gender dysphoria.”
Some studies, in fact, warn of harm,
the organization reported.
“Yet any doctor relying on the same
research or their own medical judgment would be in violation of the new
regulation and face potential lawsuits or job loss,” Becket said.
The organization cites a transgender
information website that reports “up to 94 percent
of children with gender dysphoria (77 to 94 percent in one set of studies and
73 to 88 percent in another) will grow out of their dysphoria naturally and
live healthy lives without the need for surgery or lifelong hormone regimens.”
“We’re optimistic that the court
will remind the government it simply has no authority to pass this type of law
and that it has no business telling licensed medical professionals what
procedures are in the best interests of their patients, let alone a child,”
said Rienzi.
WND
reported in November that a separate lawsuit had
been filed on behalf of North Dakota and additional plaintiffs. That complaint alleges the demand is
invalid under the Administrative Procedures Act, the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act and the U.S. Constitution’s First, Fifth and 14th Amendments.
It seeks a permanent injunction against the regulation as well as damages and
costs.
Becket argued the government ”does
not require Medicare and Medicaid to cover these same procedures, because
Health & Human Services’ (HHS) own medical experts found the risks were
often too high and benefits too unclear.”
“Yet any private doctor who made the
same decision about the risks would be in violation of the new mandate and face
potential lawsuits or job loss.” The Obama move came after the
administration simply changed the historical meaning of the word “sex.”
“For decades, across multiple
federal statutes, Congress has consistently used the term ‘sex’ to refer to an
individual’s status as male or female, as determined by a person’s biological
sex at birth. But in the regulation, HHS redefines ‘sex’ to include ‘an
individual’s internal sense of gender, which may be male, female, neither, or a
combination of male and female, and which may be different from an individual’s
sex assigned at birth.'”
The Obama administration has done
this, “despite the fact that Congress has repeatedly rejected similar attempts
to redefine ‘sex’ through legislation.” Federal courts also have rejected
such efforts, the complaint notes.
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