U.S. Supreme Court's LGBTQ Anti-Discrimination Ruling Comes Only Days After Federal Rule Strips Protections

NEW YORK, June 16 -- The Center for Reproductive Rights issued the following news release:

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark civil rights decision affirming that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ people from employment discrimination. This powerful ruling comes only four days after the Trump administration took a shameful and harmful step in the opposite direction--issuing a federal rule that restricts the rights of LGBTQ people to access health care services.

In Bostock v. Clayton County, the Court affirmed that the Civil Rights Act's prohibition on discrimination because of sex is both "straightforward" and "sweeping" and includes protections for LGBTQ people.

In stark contrast, the rule issued by the Trump administration on June 12 weakens enforcement of key anti-discrimination protections advanced under the Affordable Care Act's Health Care Rights Law (Section 1557), which specifically prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, in health programs or in activities that receive federal funding. The new rule defines discrimination on the basis of sex to eliminate explicit protections relating to termination of pregnancy, sex stereotyping, and gender identity.

It is shameful that this cruel rule attempts to roll back protections against sex discrimination in health care. Health care is a human right and everyone deserves access to health care free from discrimination.