US Senate pushing de facto ban on trans healthcare, most abortions, nationwide

If passed, the US federal government would codify that trans lives are inherently wasteful, and effectively end transition for most people across the entire United States.

By Artemis T. Douglas & Jane Migliara Brigham

The Senate Finance Committee has attached a potential rider to the upcoming vote on Affordable Care Act Subsidies which would ban all trans healthcare and most abortions through any healthcare plan that is facilitated through the various exchanges of the Affordable Care Act. It also applies these cissexist, anti-trans provisions to Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP coverage.

According to figures from 2024, the ban would cover 47.4% of plans for adults and 34.2% of children.

In other words, no one who is on such a plan can be covered for trans healthcare or most abortions.  This would put them out of reach for most of these people.

The people on Medicare and Medicaid, who would make up the vast majority of those affected by such a ban, tend to be poorer than average, meaning that they have less ability to afford alternatives than the rest of the public.

If passed, this would be a nationwide Hyde Amendment for Transsexuals, and a further restriction on abortion access. 

It also bans fertility and reproductive healthcare treatments, unless those treatments are specifically to promote cisnatalism and more births. A cis woman would be unable to get her tubes tied, but a cis man would still be able to get testosterone HRT to promote his fertility. 

This rider’s text is not available yet on Congress.gov. After a deeper search to verify it, The Needle confirmed it is available via the Senate Finance Committee's digital press room at the bottom of a press release.

That press release also has a Senate “one-pager”, of which the following is taken from.

In terms of healthcare subsidies, the text of the bill provides a non-rollover HSA to some of those who would be eligible for them under previous years’ versions of the ACA. 

For adults, the HSA amount is $1000 per year, divided into 12 month increments for each month deemed eligible. For older adults who are 50 and over, that amount changes to $1500.

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However, the text of the bill doesn’t stop there, as 10 of its 33 pages are dedicated to wiping out transition in the US. It would end coverage for all transition related care, hormones, surgeries, the lot, under exchange-based plans and apply the same provisions to other plans touched by public money, such as those through Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP. 

Further, it would legally mandate that these plans ban such procedures.

It is, in effect, a total ban on transsexual existence as it pertains to our necessary healthcare.

The text of the bill calls our healthcare “wasteful spending.”

If that wasn’t enough, the Senate text also codifies the definition of “binary, biological sex” implemented by executive fiat on Trump’s first day back in office that has since wreaked havoc on trans community resources and institutional support as the legal foundation for understanding sex and gender in healthcare law.

In a further insult, all such procedures are allowed if they are used as a means to detransition someone.  They also contain a carve out allowing puberty blockers to be used on cis children who are at risk of an early puberty.

These procedures are explicitly banned for trans people and encouraged for cis people.

The restrictions on abortion are severe, with the procedure only being covered if the pregnancy can be be proven to be the result of rape or incest, or if the pregnancy can be proven to threaten the life of the mother.

The bill would likely be voted on by the end of the month, since that is when a deal is needed to extend ACA subsidies.

That about sums it up. The US federal government is poised to codify that trans lives are inherently wasteful and effectively end transition for most people across the entire United States. 

Thanks to Jael Holzman for bringing this to our attention.