US federal judge blocks Trump's discriminatory LGBTQ healthcare regulation

A US federal judge, on August 16, blocked the Trump administration from putting into effect the new regulation that rolls back the non-discriminatory healthcare protection for the LGBTQ+ community. District Judge Frederic Block of Brooklyn, New York issued a preliminary injunction and halted the rule until the case can be heard in court and decided. US Federal Department of Health and Human Services’ controversial regulation was due to go into effect on August 18, according to reports. 

Indicative of reconsideration of the proposed rule, Block wrote in the order, “When the Supreme Court announces a major decision, it seems a sensible thing to pause and reflect on the decision’s impact.” Further, he stressed, “Since HHS has been unwilling to take that path voluntarily, the court now imposes it.” Earlier, the US Supreme Court banned discrimination basis the sexual orientation of individuals in the workplace. On similar lines, US District Court Judge reportedly said that the Trump administration's so-called “transgender rule” was invalid and inapplicable in view of the Supreme Court’s June ruling.  

Victory for the LGBTQ community and the rule of law—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The HHS healthcare rule, directed at Trump’s conservative supporters ahead of the November 2020 presidential elections seeks to overthrow the Supreme Court's 6-3 decision, Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump nominee, wrote in a document, as per a news agency report. “An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of different sex," Gorsuch wrote. “Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what (civil rights law) forbids,” he added. 

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Trump disappointed, Pelosi lauds decision

Taking to Twitter, Trump called the Judge’s decision as “horrible & politically charged”, overly disappointed, comparing the move with a shotgun blast at the conservative republicans. In a statement, Pelosi said, “Judge was unambiguous in ruling that the administration’s actions were in blatant violation of the Affordable Care Act’s protections and the Supreme Court’s recent decision, which affirmed that discrimination ‘on the basis of sex’ included sexual orientation and gender identity,” 

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(With AP Inputs)

(Image Credit: AP)