Bad, Bad News

You know that our healthcare ebb and flow according to the whims of the politicians and the courts; well now we face the judge who just struck down the ACA healthcare law and has also ruled against trans students and marriage equality. Well now he is hearing another case that affects us and it could be a matter of life and death.

Texas judge who struck down ACA to weigh in on transgender health case
The plaintiffs take issue with an Obama-era rule they say would force them to "perform and provide insurance coverage for gender transitions and abortions."
NBC News
By Julie Moreau
December 20, 2018

Judge Reed O’Connor, the Texas judge who last week struck down the Affordable Care Act, has given the green light on a lawsuit that could have profound implications for transgender patients and those seeking an abortion.

The suit — brought against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by eight states, a religious hospital network and an association of Christian health care professionals — takes aim at an Obama-era rule issued by the HHS in 2016 that interprets “sex” discrimination in Section 1557 of the ACA to include discrimination on the basis of “gender identity” and “termination of pregnancy.”

“The rule would require Plaintiffs to perform and provide insurance coverage for gender transitions and abortions contrary to their religious beliefs and medical judgment,” the Dec. 11 filing states.
[…]
While the nondiscrimination rule in question has never officially been enforced, because of a December 2016 injunction by O’Connor, many insurers removed exclusions from their coverage in anticipation of its coming into effect, according to Out2Enroll, an organization that helps LGBTQ people enroll for coverage under Obamacare.

So I don’t even think this is a guess but rather a given… our healthcare will be at the mercy of religious bigots.

NPR writes this about Judge O’Connor,

"Judge O'Connor has been the go-to judge for Ken Paxton and Republican attorneys general who want to file ideological suits in any court across the country," Nelson says. "Reed O'Connor is their best shot to get a ruling that they like."

So prey that if you ever are in an accident or need emergency medical treatment that the doctors and or healthcare providers are not religious bigots.