Skip to content
Home News

There is No Place for Discrimination in Healthcare

A transgender woman in a hospital gown speaking to her doctor, a transgender man, in an exam room.

On May 24, 2019, the Trump administration released a new proposed rule that will increase barriers to accessing health care for LGBTQ people, people who have had abortions, people with disabilities, and people with limited English proficiency. On top of all that, the rule includes yet another religious and “conscience” exemption for health workers and companies that want to turn people away from care because of their personal beliefs.

The #HealthCareRightsLaw is was the first broad federal protection against sex discrimination in health care – and it was the first to include prohibitions of discrimination based on sex stereotypes, gender identity, gender expression, and pregnancy-related conditions, and termination of a pregnancy. The rule also increased access to information and services for people with limited English proficiency.

Now, the administration wants to take us back in time. They propose that no LGBTQ people are protected by this law. They propose that no people who have had abortions are protected by this law. They propose that allowing companies and providers to decide whether to provide certain documents in multiple languages will not harm people of color and immigrants. They propose that changing accommodation requirements will not harm people with disabilities. They propose that more religious and “conscience” protections are necessary to protect providers, without acknowledging that this will harm patients who are already facing extreme barriers to accessing care. They propose that sex, race, national origin, age, and disability discrimination are all subject to different requirements—outright ignoring the existence of those of us who hold multiple of these identities.

This is an attack on all of us.

LGBTQ people are bound to be harmed by this rule in various ways—we are more likely to be living with disabilities and are more likely to be people of color. When we need access to health care, especially reproductive health care like abortion, we are often met with misinformation, ignorance, harassment, and outright refusals of care. This proposed rule, compounded with the recent final healthcare “conscience” rule, will make us less likely to be able to get the care we need.

We all deserve accessible, culturally competent and affirming health care–all the time. We have 60 days to share our stories and fight against this rule. Join the Task Force in fighting for all of us, all the time.

#AllofMeAlltheTime #PutPatientsFirst #ProtectTransHealth