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May 24, 2019

ENC Condemns Trump Administration Attack on Transgender Healthcare

The amendment to section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act will reportedly harm 1.5 million trans people.

RALEIGH – The Trump administration released infuriating new regulationstoday that will encourage doctors, hospitals and insurance companies to discriminate against transgender people.

The proposed regulation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) tells doctors, nurses, hospital staff and insurance companies they can ignore the Health Care Rights Law, a provision of the Affordable Care Act that bans discrimination on the basis of sex. For years, federal courts have ruled this law includes the rights of transgender people. Now, the Trump administration is trying to convince doctors and insurance companies that the opposite is true.

One in three transgender North Carolinians already face harassment, humiliation, and even being denied care by doctors, staff, and insurers.

“Transgender people, like all people, have the right to expect that when they seek medical care, they will be treated with respect and not with harassment or violence,” said ENC Policy Director Kendra R. Johnson. “Today's proposed rule upends two decades of courts finding that sex discrimination laws protect transgender people from that treatment. We need folks to tell HHS that we oppose any rule that lets doctors, nurses, and hospitals deny care based on who you are.”

“This move by the Trump administration is the latest in series of disturbing and targeted attacks on transgender Americans over the last several years,” said Equality NC Executive Director Kendra R. Johnson. “From our schools to our businesses to our military, transgender folks are part of the social fabric of everyday life and deserve the same rights, protections and care as all other Americans. Equality North Carolina is infuriated at this attempt to institutionalize discrimination against our trans brothers, sisters and siblings and affirms our solidarity with all folks affected by this attack.”

ENC is proud to partner with Transgender Law Center and the National Center for Transgender Equality on a campaign to Protect Trans Health.

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