Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won a nationwide stay that blocks the Biden Administration from forcing federally-funded healthcare providers to conduct “gender transition” surgeries. Previously, Texas won a stay of agency action that blocked the rule from enforcement in the plaintiff States, Texas and Montana. Applying the same logic, Texas then argued for nationwide relief, and the court has expanded the relief to the entire country.

In May 2024, the Biden Administration promulgated a new rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act that would defund healthcare providers across the country who refuse to perform or pay for experimental, unproven, and potentially dangerous “gender transition” procedures. Under the rule, any medical institution that refused to perform the procedures could be stripped of all federal healthcare funds, including federal Medicaid and Medicare dollars. The rule further claimed to preempt any state laws forbidding such procedures. 

In June 2024, Texas and Montana sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), arguing that the rule was a plainly unconstitutional attempt to override state law. The rule also relied on a misapplication of the Affordable Care Act which never authorized HHS or any government agency to compel institutions to perform or pay for these procedures. 

“When Biden and Harris sidestep the Constitution to force their unlawful, extremist agenda on the American public, we are fighting back and stopping them,” said Attorney General Paxton. “By blocking this destructive policy, which would have forced taxpayer-funded hospitals to conduct unproven and dangerous ‘gender transition’ procedures, Texas has delivered a major victory for Americans across the country.”

To read the order, click here.