Another Court Challenge To HHS Rules On Medical Services For Transgender Individuals

Following on a lawsuit filed in August (see prior posting), yesterday a lawsuit was filed by different plaintiffs challenging new rules (full text) adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services in May.  The rules bar discrimination on the basis of gender identity in the delivery of medical services by, among others, health facilities receiving federal financial assistance.  The complaint (full text) in Religious Sisters of Mercy v. Burwell, (D ND, filed 11/7/2016), filed by a religious order, a health care system, a Catholic university with a nursing program, and the state of North Dakota, alleges that the new rules violate various statutory and constitutional provisions. It says in part:

The Regulation not only forces healthcare professionals to violate their medical judgment, it also forces them to violate their deeply held religious beliefs.... The Regulation also undermines the longstanding sovereign power of States such as North Dakota to regulate healthcare, ensure appropriate standards of medical judgment, and protect its citizens’ constitutional and civil rights.

Becket Fund issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.