On Tuesday, President Joe Biden filed an appeal that would force religious doctors and hospitals to perform transgender-related procedures and surgeries regardless of objections, The Daily Wire reports.
In a series of Twitter posts on Tuesday, Luke Goodrich, who works at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty law group, asserted that Biden’s appeal follows up on the administration’s efforts to deem a doctor’s refusal to perform transgender-related procedures “sex discrimination.” In January, The Biden administration put forward the proposal, but it was rejected in court.
“The plaintiffs are religious doctors, hospitals, and clinics who joyfully serve ALL patients regardless of sex or gender identity. They routinely provide top-notch care to transgender patients for everything from cancer to the common cold,” Goodrich wrote. “They also provide millions of dollars in free and low-cost care to the elderly, poor, and underserved – care that is jeopardized by the government’s attempt to punish them with multi-million dollar penalties,” he
Doctors and hospitals aside, Goodrich noted that the transgender mandate threatens patients because of the harmful effects of certain transgender transition procedures.
“The government’s own doctors during the Obama Admin agreed: ‘Based on a thorough review of the clinical evidence … there is not enough evidence to determine whether gender reassignment surgery improves health outcomes for [patients] with gender dysphoria,'” he cited.
Goodrich also highlighted a recent BBC report providing evidence for the ineffectiveness of puberty blockers.
“The evidence for using puberty-blocking drugs to treat young people struggling with their gender identity is ‘very low’, an official review has found,” the report said. “The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said existing studies of the drugs were small and ‘subject to bias and confounding.”
“The NICE evidence review looked at what impact puberty blockers had on gender dysphoria, mental health – such as depression, anger and anxiety – and quality of life,” the report continued. “NICE, which provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care, said: ‘The quality of evidence for these outcomes was assessed as very low certainty.
In closing, Goodrich contended that Biden should not have appealed the court ruling.
“The Biden Admin shouldn’t have appealed. But we look forward to another ruling that protects patients, aligns with current medical research, and ensures doctors aren’t forced to violate their religious beliefs and professional medical judgment.”
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C. seeking to protect religious liberty for all faiths.