On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit overturned a district court’s judgment and determined that Houston County’s insurance policy does not discriminate on the basis of sex and violate Title VII. An employee of Houston County Sheriff's Office, Anna Lange, medically transitioned and requested that the county’s insurer cover their sex reassignment surgery, however, sex reassignment was not covered under the terms of the county's health insurance plan. Lange sued, and in 2022 won a summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. After an appeal by Houston County, the 11th circuit Court of Appeals determined in a split panel that the county discriminated against Lange. The 11th circuit, however, ultimately voided that decision and voted to rehear the case, culminating in Tuesday’s decision. In the latest ruling, the court drew heavily on the recent ruling in the U.S. v Skrmetti. "The County's plan draws a line between certain treatments, which it covers, and other treatments, which it does not," the en banc 11th Circuit ruling said. "That line may or may not be appropriate as a matter of health care policy, but it is not facial discrimination based on protected status." The case now returns to the U.S. Middle District in Georgia.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to subpoena the medical records of trans-identified minor patients at Boston Children’s Hospital. The Justice Department argued that the medical records are needed to pursue its campaign against fraud and the unlawful promotion of off label drugs for pediatric medical transition. Judge Myong Joun remained unconvinced by that rationale. “It is abundantly clear that the true purpose of issuing the subpoena is to interfere with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' right to protect GAC within its borders, to harass and intimidate BCH to stop providing such care, and to dissuade patients from seeking such care” Judge Joun wrote.
In the Wall Street Journal, Do No Harm’s Kurt Miceli makes the case for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update its database of medical diagnostic codes to include codes which acknowledge the medical needs of detransitioners. “There are codes for patients who try to change their sex—but no codes that speak to regret over the irreversible consequences that follow an attempted sex change or remission in the belief that the patient was born in the wrong body. This makes it impossible to identify how many people are ‘detransitioning,’ and more difficult for researchers to help them, because standardized codes are vital for studying real-world data” Miceli argues. Among the six new codes Miceli proposes, one would recognize a patient’s history of reversing medical transition, and another would recognize the psychological suffering that can accompany medically detransitioning. “The thousands of children who’ve tried to change their sex need help…People like Chloe Cole need the government’s help to get acknowledgement of the injuries they’ve suffered and the care they need as a result” Miceli concludes.
Last Week, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release proposing new federal legislation, the Victims of Chemical or Surgical Mutilation Act (VCSMA), which would prohibit physicians from participating in the medical transition of a minor, and create a private right of action for detransitioners. “Perhaps most significantly, the bill allows affected individuals to bring lawsuits up to 25 years after their 18th birthday, or four years after incurring detransition-related medical costs, whichever comes later” write the staff of Souls & Liberty. In justifying the extended statute of limitations, the legislation acknowledges that pediatric medical transition often involves “decisions…made by parents, or medical providers, on a child’s behalf,” the long-term implications of which “are not discovered until years after the medical actions have been taken.”
A federal judge ruled last Thursday that Georgia’s law prohibiting state funds from paying for sex-rejecting procedures for prisoners in state correctional facilities likely violates constitutional protections against “cruel and unusual punishment.” In May, Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 185 into law, which codified the policy. The new ruling, however, directs the Georgia Board of Corrections to resume treatments for inmates previously receiving “affirming care.” Bill author state Sen. Randy Robertson remains optimistic, however, that the law will ultimately be upheld. “I’m very confident that once everything is hashed out in the courtrooms, that the law will go into effect and will accomplish exactly what we need to accomplish for Georgia taxpayers” Robertson said.
Foster parents in Massachusetts are suing to block enforcement of a state foster policy which requires parents to sign agreements that they will affirm a child’s “gender identity” or “expression.” The plaintiffs in the lawsuit–the Jones and Schrock families–maintain that they have already lost, or are at risk of losing, their foster licenses because of the policy, which they argue infringes on their religious beliefs. The religious liberty group representing the families, the Alliance Defending Freedom, argues that the foster policy violates their clients’ First and 14th Amendment rights while harming children at a time when Massachusetts is facing a foster parent shortage. "Massachusetts’ foster care system is in crisis: The commonwealth has more than 1,400 children who are waiting to be placed with a loving family. Yet Massachusetts is putting its ideological agenda ahead of the needs of these suffering kids," wrote ADF Senior Counsel Widmalm-Delphonse in a press release.
Northern Ireland’s Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, defends the decision to have Baroness Dr Hilary Cass review Northern Ireland’s gender identity services to ensure compliance with the Cass Review. The Cass Review, a multiyear assessment of the UK’s gender identity services, concluded that children had been “let down” by the lack of high certainty evidence for pediatric medical transition. Critics of Cass’s audit of Northern Ireland’s services maintain that people need care now, and that new funds for the services (£800,000) have already been allotted. Health Minister Nesbitt argues, however, that “it is a sensible step to take to ask Dr Cass herself, who is more than willing to undertake the work – for free - to come over and just quality assure what we are proposing." “It's going to be mostly psychiatric and psychological support. It's going to be multi-disciplinary" Nesbitt suggested.
According to Gender Clinic News, nine Nordic physicians have written an editorial arguing that health care providers must summon the courage to protect minors from experimental transition procedures, and advocate for a legal right to refuse to participate in these procedures on bioethical grounds. “In a situation where professional consensus is lacking and there are serious concerns about the benefit and safety of the treatment, it is crucial that we as doctors dare to take on the role of the patient’s medical defender. We must not forget the most important principle of the Hippocratic Oath: Primum non nocere—first and foremost, do no harm” the editorial states. The editorial also considers the spillover effects of teaching gender ideology as settled fact in educational settings. “Schools are obliged to teach about gender identity and sexuality from an early age, but many teachers lack the necessary medical and psychological insight into the topic of gender incongruence. This carries the risk of presenting gender as a simple choice with no consequences and treating incongruence as safe, easy and reversible” the authors go on to muse.
Joseph Figliolia
Policy Analyst
News
