All anti-trans rules removed from upcoming government funding bill
Democrats no longer appear willing to vote for these compromises in order to fund the federal government.
The removal of this language appears to be part of a wider backlash to the Trump regime’s authoritarian stance among Congressional Democrats.
By Jane Migliara Brigham
Today, the House government funding bill for the upcoming fiscal year was released, and it had no restrictions on trans healthcare, as reported by Congressional reporter Eric Michael Garcia.
In previous versions of the bill, there contained a line stating that “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for any social, psychological, behavioral, or medical intervention performed for the purposes of intentionally changing the body of an individual to no longer correspond to the individual’s biological sex.” This language has been removed.
If implemented, this would have been interpreted to prevent the funding of any medical or psychological services used by trans people for the purposes of medical and/or social transition, regardless of age. It was essentially a Hyde amendment for trans healthcare.
Since most medical providers in the United States accept federal funding, this would bar most of them from being able to provide trans healthcare to their patients. The only providers that would not be affected by such a rule are those few dedicated medical providers for this purpose, such as Planned Parenthood.
This would have meant that access to trans healthcare would be gated by proximity to a dedicated provider, creating healthcare deserts. Accessing it would have depended on where you live and how easily you can travel.
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As explained by Jael Holzman, this would have been among the severe options in the Republican’s arsenal to restrict the rights of trans people, and for a long time, there was a great deal of fear that Democrats would go along with it. That Congress no longer appears willing to use it is an excellent sign for trans rights in the legislature.
The removal of this language appears to be part of a wider backlash to the Trump regime’s authoritarian stance among Congressional Democrats as it pertains to trans issues. The language in question was removed along with the lessening of additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in particular, and The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) more generally.
The bill is expected to be voted on before January 30th, as without additional funding, the government would enter a shutdown.
Members Discussion