HHS Removes Gender Dysphoria From List of Disabilities Protected Under Federal Law

The HHS has said that they will be removing gender dysphoria from a list of disabilities protected under federal law, according to reporting from Stateline.

It remains unclear whether “17 Republican state attorneys general will continue a related lawsuit that could dismantle federal protections for all people with disabilities.” In 2024, Texas GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton “sued the federal government over the Biden administration’s addition of a gender identity-related disorder to the disabilities protected under a portion of federal law known as Section 504,” which 16 other states then joined. Disability advocates warned that parts of their lawsuit “asked the court to find all of Section 504 unconstitutional,” perhaps leading to “schools, workplaces, hospitals, and other entities [to] refuse to provide disability accommodations they’ve been required to provide for the past 50 years.”

This new ruling from the HHS “essentially declares that the Biden update adding gender dysphoria to disability law can’t be enforced.” Specifically, the ruling says that “language in the preamble [to the rule in question] concerning gender dysphoria, which language is not included in the regulatory text, does not have the force or effect of law. Therefore, it cannot be enforced.”

HPN also reported today on an investigation initiated by the HHS Office for Civil Rights regarding the alleged termination of employment of a nurse who refused to administer puberty blockers to children at her hospital on religious grounds.