A U.S. district judge has issued a preliminary injunction in favor of Texas and Montana, blocking the federal government’s effort to extend Title IX protections to include gender identity, an issue that has implications for the 2024 presidential election.
The ruling is just the latest federal court decision in a series where judges have temporarily stopped changes to Title IX that would expand its coverage to include protections and services for transgender individuals the original statute was never meant to address.
Judge Jeremy Kernodle determined that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cannot compel state healthcare providers to offer gender-affirming care under threat of losing federal funding. This decision aligns with the broader judicial pushback against expanding Title IX regulations to include provisions for gender identity, The Epoch Times reported on Saturday.
In May 2024, HHS issued a press release on its Final Rule, which expanded the definition of Title IX protections in 2016 to include “discrimination based on the basis of gender identity” to fit in with Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
