HHS has proposed a rule that would roll back protections for transgender people in healthcare, according to The Washington Post.
The rule — announced May 24 — addresses regulations implemented under the ACA.
Under the ACA, lawmakers directed HHS to apply protections in healthcare against discrimination "on the basis of sex" to termination of pregnancy and gender identity, which it defined as a person's internal sense of being "male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female," the agency said.
HHS said the new rule would revise these provisions to conform with a previous court understanding that the provisions are contrary to the applicable civil rights law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
"When Congress prohibited sex discrimination, it did so according to the plain meaning of the term, and we are making our regulations conform," said Roger Severino, director of HHS' Office for Civil Rights, in a news release.
"The American people want vigorous protection of civil rights and faithfulness to the text of the laws passed by their representatives," he added. "The proposed rule would accomplish both goals."
HHS said the agency will "maintain vigorous civil rights enforcement" on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age and sex. But Mr. Severino told The Post and other media that President Donald Trump's administration believes that "discrimination on the basis of sex does not include gender identity or termination of pregnancy."
HHS estimates the proposed rule would save about $3.6 billion in costs over five years.
Federal lawmakers, state governors, medical associations and civil rights groups are opposed to the proposed rule and have vowed to challenge it, according to The Post.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said in a statement obtained by the publication that the proposed rule was "blatantly harmful, discriminatory and wrong."
"Patients don't need the ideological judgment of President Trump, Vice President Pence or anyone else for that matter — they need to know that when they seek the healthcare they need, they won't be turned away because of who they are," she said.
Read more about the proposed rule here.
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