In a story that flew under the radar, the 8th Circuit of Appeals struck down a federal mandate instituted by the Biden administration seeking to force hospitals and doctors to perform “gender-affirming care.” The rule, supposedly justified by a provision in the Affordable Care Act, left no provision for religious objections nor the decision-making of doctors that such “care” would violate their medical judgment.
In August, the 5th Circuit put in place an injunction to protect the plaintiffs (represented by the State of North Dakota) in the case, which included several Catholic organizations. On Friday, the 8th Circuit finally made it permanent, putting an end to this madness. The Biden administration appears to have reached a dead in, having already missed the deadline to appeal the 5th Circuit’s ruling.
#BREAKING: The 8th Circuit just ruled against the Biden Admin’s transgender mandate, which tried to force religious doctors and hospitals to perform gender transitions against their conscience and medical judgment. A huge win for #ReligiousFreedom! 🧵https://t.co/uY8uwi3mTM
— Luke Goodrich (@LukeWGoodrich) December 9, 2022
In a move illustrating how ridiculous this all was, the administration had previously argued not for the legality of its provision, but that the hospitals and doctors involved didn’t have the standing to challenge it. Think about that. The administration’s argument boiled down to an assertion that they can make a rule about chopping your legs off but that you can’t legally object until after they chop them off. If that’s not a perfect picture of our overbearing, tyrannical government, I don’t know what is.
Thankfully, the 8th Circuit answered the question on standing, with the plaintiffs successfully arguing that any action taken under the rule would cause irreparable harm.
I should be happy, right?
I’m not. Seeing these rulings only makes me angrier. Why is any of this even a question? We are talking about chopping the body parts off of otherwise healthy human beings in order to perform irreversible operations that lead to a lifetime of complications and harm. We are talking about pumping children full of hormone blockers that permanently alter their growth and development. That’s not healthcare. It’s barbaric mutilation in the name of a grotesque political belief that affirming mental illness with radical medical procedures is better than treating it for what it is.
And the Biden administration doesn’t just support that on an ideological level. They want to use the full force of the government to make doctors carry out that agenda, violating not only their conscious but their best medical judgment as well. It’s like we are living in a dystopian novel.
Lastly, a quick search reveals that RedState is one of only two non-Catholic news sites to even cover this. That shouldn’t be the case. The left’s transgender agenda is swamping the youngest generation, and it’s doing immense, long-term damage. A court decision stating that someone can’t be forced to provide “gender-affirming care” on religious grounds is valuable, but it’s a small win in a much bigger war. There are still plenty of deranged, money-hungry “doctors” out there who will happily lop the breasts off a 16-year-old girl. The fight goes on until this lunacy is outlawed.
