New Proposed Healthcare Rule Targets LGBTQ Folks

From military bans to nasty public statements, the Trump Administration has already hit the LGBTQ community pretty hard. Now, a new proposed health care rule via the Department of Health and Human Services is taking some serious, under-the-radar shots at queer folks.

According to the National Women’s Law Center, this law would allow insurance plans, hospitals, doctors, and other caregivers to use their religious or moral beliefs in order to determine the type of care a patient receives.

You can probably guess what’s coming next. Of course, this means that if a woman wants an abortion or similar services, in some cases even access to or information about birth control, she could be denied. Trans folks could also loose their hormone treatments and surgery options if doctors are not willing to grant these things.

Beyond just not being able to receive treatment, there is also a certain element of shame associated with being denied health care because a doctor doesn’t think a woman should be making choices with her body, or feels a trans person doesn’t deserve to present themselves as their correct gender. It’s more than just being denied coverage because of a policy miscommunication or a problem with insurance; someone would actually be telling women and queer folks that they don’t approve of their choices in these cases.

If you’d like to push back against this rule, the National LGBTQ Task Force is helping queer folks fill out comments to the DHHS to protest this rule becoming law. Send in your own two cents and let the legislators know how you feel about this regressive legislation.