Get The Government Off Our Backs

How many times have you heard that said by the Republicans but in reality they have inserted themselves between our doctor and us.

1557 remember that number, it could save your life.

GOP invokes anti-abortion playbook to fight trans youth health care
Efforts to expand states’ power over personal medical decisions will intensify in 2022, advocates on both sides agree.
Politico
By Joanne Kenen
August 8, 2021


A rash of bills introduced in at least 20 states would limit trans youth’s access to gender-affirming care — and opponents say they echo some of the arguments anti-abortion groups put forth about women’s safety as they attempted to shut down clinics.

Like abortion restrictions, the trans bills would expand states’ power over highly personal medical decisions. Backers of these bills, and groups that have initiated some court cases related to trans health, also make claims about the treatment’s risks — although leading medical associations say that gender-affirming treatment is safe, and that delaying or blocking it can create harm.

“It’s the same cast of characters,” Elizabeth Nash, a policy expert at the Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive health and rights. “Religious groups, conservative think tanks, a host of organizations … they are seeking to limit human rights and bodily autonomy.”

“… they are seeking to limit human rights and bodily autonomy.” the Republicans keep on with their lie about  “getting the government off your backs” but they want to insert themselves into our most imitate lives.

“Puberty blockers are the conservative approach — with a small c,” said Joshua Safer, executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery and a co-author of the Endocrine Society guidelines for medical care of transgender patients.
[...]
But conservative lawmakers and policy groups backing the bills argue that the treatment is risky, with possible ill effects including infertility, osteoporosis and elevated cancer risk. They argue that if states can decide when a teen gets a driver’s license or a tattoo, they have an obligation to protect kids from what could be serious, possibly irreversible medical harm.

The Republicans do what Republicans do best, lie.

A related set of legal battles is playing out in North Dakota and Texas, part of a multi-year fight against a portion of the Affordable Care Act called Section 1557 that bans discrimination in medical care, including based on sex. The suits involve doctors and health systems that don’t want to perform gender-affirming care because they believe it’s harmful, said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the groups bringing the cases. So far, rulings have generally favored Becket's arguments but appeals are ongoing.

What is section 1557?

Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 USC 18116) and its implementing regulation provide that an individual shall not be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination on the grounds prohibited under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq. (race, color, national origin), Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq. (sex), the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, 42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq. (age), or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794 (disability), under any health program or activity, any part of which is receiving federal financial assistance; any program or activity administered by the Department under Title I of the Act; or any program or activity administered by any entity established under such Title. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has enforcement authority with respect to health programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or are administered by HHS or any entity established under Title I of the Affordable Care Act. OCR is responsible for enforcing regulations issued under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (Section 1557), protecting the civil rights of individuals who access or seek to access covered health programs or activities. Section 1557 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), age, or disability in covered health programs or activities. 42 U.S.C. § 18116(a).

In a nutshell… you cannot discriminate against anyone based on the protective classes out lined in the section and that includes “sex” and sex has been defined by the Supreme Court last year to include gender identity in a case that involved Title VII.

On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)’s prohibition on employment discrimination based on sex encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Bostock v. Clayton County, GA, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020). The Bostock majority concluded that the plain meaning of “because of sex” in Title VII necessarily included discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity. Id. At 1753-54.

But 1557 is not the only tool in our toolbox, there is also the Fourteenth Amendment, the equal protection clause.

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

“...nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” that means if you allow another to take puberty blockers you can tell someone else they can’t take them.

They talk about "rights" the right not to wear a mask, The "right" not to get vaccinated. But then they trample over our "rights" to control our own bodies. It is always about their "rights" not our "rights."

It is going to be a tough court fight and even if we win the Republicans will keep on passing anti-trans legislation.

HHS’s Levine said the challenges are not only cultural but also medical and legal. The country has gone through rapid social changes about gay men and lesbians; there’s a lot less knowledge, familiarity and acceptance of trans people.