Biden rolls back protections for vulnerable children, unborn

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Matt Bowman regarding a proposed rule released Monday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that reinterprets federal law to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, requiring doctors to perform harmful medical procedures that seek to alter a patient’s biological sex even if the procedure violates the doctor’s medical judgment or religious beliefs. The new proposed rule would also prohibit discrimination on the basis of “termination of pregnancy”—an action that could force physicians and hospitals to perform abortions and employers to cover abortions in their health insurance plans—in direct violation of Title IX that explicitly says it cannot be used to require people to provide or pay for any service related to abortions:

“Doctors should never be forced to perform a controversial and often medically dangerous procedure that goes against their best judgment, their conscience, or their religious beliefs. President Biden’s administration is grossly overreaching its authority and in so doing, putting children’s psychological and physical health in danger. This harmful new rule could force physicians to perform abortions or controversial procedures that seek to alter a person’s biological sex and could force employers to pay for those procedures in their health insurance plans. This rule would further roll back protections for children and the unborn, and is an extreme violation of doctors’ and employers’ constitutional rights to conduct their work in a manner that is consistent with their religious beliefs and convictions.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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