A federal judge in Texas has ruled that the Biden administration cannot redefine sex-based discrimination in statutes to force doctors to perform gender-transition procedures against their will.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled Friday that the administration exceeded the limits of the Affordable Care Act and Title IX by including sexual orientation and gender identity among the laws’ anti-discrimination protections.
“Title IX’s ordinary public meaning remains intact until changed by Congress, or perhaps the Supreme Court,” wrote Judge Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee.
Because civil rights law has not changed, the judge said the executive branch could not extend a 2020 Supreme Court ruling barring LGBT workplace discrimination to include Obamacare patients.