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Monday, February 23, 2026

Tag: Anti-Discrimination
October 24, 2025
Health
Politics

Federal Judge Overturns Biden-Era Expansion of Title IX Protections to Include ‘Gender Identity.’

PULSE POINTS

âť“WHAT HAPPENED: A federal judge struck down a Joe Biden-era rule that expanded anti-discrimination measures to transgender healthcare, stating that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) exceeded its authority.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Judge Louis Guirola Jr., a coalition of 15 Republican-led states, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

đź“ŤWHEN & WHERE: The ruling came from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and follows a lawsuit filed by 15 states.

đź’¬KEY QUOTE: “This decision restores not just common sense but also constitutional limits on federal overreach,” said Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.

🎯IMPACT: The ruling vacates the rule universally, reinforcing states’ rights to regulate healthcare without federal overreach.

IN FULL

A federal judge has ruled against a former Biden government policy that expanded anti-discrimination protections to include gender identity in healthcare. Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi declared that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “exceeded its authority” in redefining sex discrimination under Title IX to include gender identity.

The legal challenge was brought by a coalition of 15 Republican-led states, including Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and others. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) praised the ruling, stating, “When Biden-era bureaucrats tried to illegally rewrite our laws to force radical gender ideology into every corner of American healthcare, Tennessee stood strong and stopped them.”

Skrmetti’s office highlighted that the rule would have mandated healthcare providers to offer gender dysphoria treatments, prohibited sex-segregated spaces, and required states to subsidize such treatments through Medicaid. The court determined that Congress’s original intent in 1972’s Title IX referred to biological sex, not gender identity. It stressed that federal agencies cannot unilaterally rewrite laws to advance political agendas.

The rule was originally introduced under the Obama administration in 2016, reversed by the Trump administration, and later reinstated by the Biden government. However, the policy had already been stayed since July 2024, preventing it from taking effect. Judge Guirola’s ruling now vacates the rule entirely.

“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,” Skrmetti added.

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October 1, 2024
Election 2024
Election Integrity

Abortion Ballot Measure Would Also Establish Noncitizen Voting Rights.

A broadly worded New York state ballot measure could enshrine voting rights in the state constitution for noncitizens even though it is ostensibly aimed at protecting abortions. Proposition 1, known as the Equal Rights Amendment, would guarantee the right to abortion in the state constitution. However, there is mounting concern the measure’s broad anti-discrimination provision could lead to significant unintended consequences.

The proposed amendment states, “No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state,” and lists protections regardless of “race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed [or], religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.” According to critics, the inclusion of “national origin” could extend protections and potentially voting rights to noncitizens, including illegal immigrants.

Westchester County-based constitutional lawyer Bobbi Anne Cox, who is spearheading a campaign opposed to Proposition 1, argues the anti-discrimination amendment is so broadly worded that it equates noncitizens with citizens in terms of legal protections.

“It covers anybody. That includes people who came here illegally and broke our laws,” she emphasized, suggesting it is a “Trojan horse of epic proportions.”

Additionally, Cox notes the measure could result in taxpayers having to cover even more services for illegal immigrants than they already are—further ballooning state and local budgets.

Republican pollster John McLaughlin agrees with Cox, suggesting that voter support for Prop 1 decreases when they learn of its broader implications, said to include allowing transgenders to compete in women’s sports and share female locker rooms. He described the ballot measure as a “radical wish list.”

Image by rchristie/Ryan.

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A broadly worded New York state ballot measure could enshrine voting rights in the state constitution for noncitizens even though it is ostensibly aimed at protecting abortions. Proposition 1, known as the Equal Rights Amendment, would guarantee the right to abortion in the state constitution. However, there is mounting concern the measure's broad anti-discrimination provision could lead to significant unintended consequences. show more