The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released today a proposed rule that aims to revise Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The regulation, if finalized, would remove all references to gender identity, sex stereotyping, and termination of pregnancy in the regulation and would broadly increase the authority of health care providers to refuse service based on religious objection.
Williams Institute Executive Director Jocelyn Samuels, the former Director of OCR, said, “The Trump administration is proposing a harmful rollback of protections from discrimination in health care and insurance coverage that is inconsistent with the weight of the law and will limit health care access for vulnerable Americans. If the administration is successful, LGBT people would be at particular risk. But the civil rights of all Americans would be eroded. Our government should be working to expand access to health care and improve people’s well-being.”