A federal judge has struck down a Biden administration rule that expanded anti-discrimination protections to transgender-related procedures, ruling that the Department of Health and Human Services exceeded its authority.
On Thursday, US District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. sided with fifteen states that sued the department, finding that the agency unlawfully expanded federal discrimination protections to include gender identity.
“In the opinion of the Court, Congress only contemplated biological sex when it enacted Title IX in 1972,” the judge wrote. “Therefore, the Court finds that HHS exceeded its authority by implementing regulations redefining sex discrimination and prohibiting gender-identity discrimination.”
The Biden administration had enacted the rule in May 2024. Although the Trump administration has since taken charge of the federal government, the states argued that the regulation could still be enforced. Guirola agreed, noting that because the rule remained active, “the threat of enforcement and legal action is real,” and said a ruling was necessary to provide clarity.
The rule, if left in place, would have barred state-created health benefit exchanges and recipients of Medicaid and Medicare, among others, from denying transgender medical procedures.
“When it enacted Title IX, Congress’s concern was prohibiting sex discrimination in education. It was particularly concerned with inequality that female students experienced. It did not at that time contemplate gender identity, transgender status, or ‘gender-affirming care,’” Guirola wrote.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, whose state led the lawsuit, praised the ruling.
“When Biden-era bureaucrats tried to illegally rewrite our laws to force radical gender ideology into every corner of American health care, Tennessee stood strong and stopped them,” Skrmetti said in a statement. “This decision restores not just common sense but also constitutional limits on federal overreach, and I am proud of the team of excellent attorneys who fought this through to the finish.”
