A federal court just blocked an Obamacare mandate that forced Catholic doctors to perform gender reassignment surgeries.
District Court Chief Judge Peter Welte from North Dakota wrote the decision that protects some doctors from being penalized if they refuse to perform gender transition procedures on the grounds of religious beliefs.
In 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a rule interpreting a section from Obamacare, which prohibits certain forms of discrimination in healthcare, including sex discrimination. The new rule meant that insurers or third-party administrators couldn’t exclude gender-transition elements in their plans. This also meant healthcare providers were not allowed to refuse medical services for gender transitioning if they offered comparable services to others.