Nondiscrimination

The Biden-Harris administration must ensure that HHS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) protects civil rights for all. It should begin with the defunding and elimination of the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division (CRFD) formed under the Trump administration. The CRFD  was never necessary and drove a number of so-called conscience protection rule changes that harmed LGBTQ people and those seeking reproductive health care. HHS should rescind OCR’s unwarranted and harmful refusal-of-care rules. It also must overturn the Trump administration’s regulation narrowing the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) Section 1557 nondiscrimination clause to exclude the definition of discrimination on the basis of abortion, sex stereotyping and gender identity and must engage in rulemaking using a broad definition of discrimination that aligns with the Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County decision. The Biden-Harris administration in general should reallocate resources to ensure that enforcement priorities reflect the inclusive definition of discrimination as well as evidence on the form and scope of civil rights problems.