It should come as no surprise that the Biden administration would bring about radical changes. Earlier this week, the Department of Health & Human Services issued new policy, "HHS Announces Prohibition on Sex Discrimination Includes Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity."
The policy literally redefines "sex" and flies in the face of biology in doing so. The policy announced that "the Office for Civil Rights will interpret and enforce Section 1557 and Title IX’s prohibitions on discrimination based on sex to include: (1) discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation; and (2) discrimination on the basis of gender identity."
A statement from Secretary Becerra was exactly what you'd expect. According to the HHS announcement:
“The Supreme Court has made clear that people have a right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex and receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation. That’s why today HHS announced it will act on related reports of discrimination,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Fear of discrimination can lead individuals to forgo care, which can have serious negative health consequences. It is the position of the Department of Health and Human Services that everyone – including LGBTQ people - should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period.”
The Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine made even less sense. Emphasis is original:
“The mission of our Department is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation. All people need access to healthcare services to fix a broken bone, protect their heart health, and screen for cancer risk,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health. “No one should be discriminated against when seeking medical services because of who they are.”
The American Principles Project was one such group to issue a warning, as they had done in the past:
“Last fall, American Principles Project PAC produced an ad warning that promoting sex change treatments for children would become official government policy should Joe Biden be elected. At the time, the ad was widely denounced in the media as ‘misinformation.’
“But now that Joe Biden is president, our concerns have sadly been vindicated. Make no mistake: the policy announced by HHS today is not about ‘fix[ing] a broken bone’ or ‘screen[ing] for cancer risk.’ No American was being denied access to these treatments for identifying as ‘LGBTQ.’ Rather, this policy is really about forcing hospitals and medical professionals to adhere to leftist ideology regarding sexuality and gender—and in particular to provide sex-change procedures to all comers, including children.
“We know this is not based in science. In fact, just two months ago, one of the largest hospitals in Sweden announced it would no longer be giving gender transition drugs to children under 16 due to a lack of understanding about the drugs’ effects. And last year, a High Court in the U.K. ruled against the country’s largest gender clinic due to doubt over the ability of children to consent to such ‘treatments.’
“Yet, it is now apparently the policy of the US government that such treatments must be given to children or else healthcare institutions risk losing federal funding and being shut down. This is a travesty, and must be opposed. Lawmakers in Congress and in the states should follow the lead of Arkansas and act to protect the health and well-being of children as well as the conscience rights of medical professionals. Voters will be watching.”
Townhall spoke to APP's Jon Schweppe, who is the the director of policy and government affairs. A main concern to do with the policy is that it could affect the conscience protections of medical providers, specifically those who don't approve of minors who want to go through the transition of changing genders.
"Any doctor who conscientiously objects to gender ideology for either religious or scientific reasons — or even both in many cases — will be forced to fight in court for their right to follow their professional judgment and do best by their patients," he said.
He also confirmed fears to do with Levine, who is the first openly transgender person confirmed by the Senate, and seems perfectly fine with minors undergoing the genital mutilation and sterilization that comes with sex changes.
"Levine has a long history of advocating for sex changes for kids, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that one of the first moves at HHS since Levine’s confirmation is to normalize these horrific procedures by forcing health care providers to prescribe puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to young children," he said about the assistant secretary.
Schweppe shot down the main argument from the department, further confirming a fear about this administration. "There will be a concerted effort by Democrats and the media to distract from what this HHS order is really about. This isn’t about health care. It’s not about discrimination. It’s about ensuring that as many children as possible are pushed into these life-altering sex changes at early ages."
The political ramifications cannot be underscored, either, in that "ultimately elections have consequences. This is why re-electing Trump mattered."
America First Legal also issued a statement on this, from a legal perspective. President Stephen Miller, formerly of the Trump administration, said:
“The media coverage of the Administration’s new healthcare announcement is extraordinarily deceptive. This is not about the ‘rights’ of any American patient or access to medical care. This is about whether we are guided medical science or whether we subordinate medical science to narrow political agendas. Forcing doctors and medical practitioners to disregard long-established scientific fact — in this case biological sex — undermines the quality and integrity of medical care. Doctors can and must make decisions based on hard science when providing medical treatment. Compelling doctors to accord their treatment to gender identification rather than the actual biological sex of a patient can have real and deleterious consequences. Requiring doctors to chemically castrate minors, or to provide medically unnecessary or even harmful surgeries, does not advance the cause of science or medicine. We want all Americans to have access to quality care, and to be treated with decency and dignity, based on a doctor’s true and actual best medical and scientific judgment.”
Sec. Becerra and Assistant Sec. Levine were narrowly confirmed in a 50-49 and 52-48 vote, respectively. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) voted for both nominees, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted for Levine. Townhall reached out to their offices.