by Laurel Duggan
A federal district court temporarily blocked a Biden administration mandate that forced employers to pay for sex change surgeries against their religious beliefs, according to a court order.
District Judge Daniel Traynor of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, determined that the Christian Employers Alliance (CEA) will likely win its lawsuit, brought by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), and issued an order temporarily blocking the Biden mandate while the lawsuit moves forward, according to the court order.
The lawsuit challenges the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) inclusion of gender identity in its interpretation of “sex” in federal law, which the government used to justify forcing employers to cover sex change procedures, according to ADF. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is improperly enforcing sex-based discrimination, the lawsuit argued.
The Biden administration announced in May 2021 that it would enforce an Obama-era regulation which bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity under Title IX, CNN reported.
“As stewards of the health and safety of our valued employees, it is unconscionable and unconstitutional to be mandated to provide, pay for, or promote services and procedures that directly contradict our deeply held religious beliefs,” said CEA President Shannon Royce, according to an ADF press release. “We are pleased that we can continue to act consistent with those beliefs while our lawsuit proceeds and look forward to ultimately prevailing with our case.”
UPDATE: Court halts Biden mandate that forces religious employers to pay for, perform irresponsible, irreversible surgeries.
More ⬇️ https://t.co/ZrloHG0vYM
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) May 17, 2022
The court rebuked the Biden Administration’s transgender agenda, according to the ADF press release.
“HHS Guidance encourages a parent to file a complaint if a medical provider refuses to gender transition their child, of any age, including an infant,” the judge wrote in the court order. “The thought that a newborn child could be surgically altered to change gender is the result of the Biden HHS Notification and HHS Guidance that brands a medical professional’s refusal to do so as discrimination. Indeed, the HHS Guidance specifically invites the public to file complaints for acting in a manner the Alliance says is consistent with their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
– – –
Laurel Duggan is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
