Elizabeth Warren calls for ‘gender-affirming’ healthcare for trans Americans
Senator Elizabeth Warren (Joe Raedle/Getty)
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has said all transgender Americans should be able to access affordable, gender-affirming healthcare.
Warren, 70, who is currently senator of Massachusetts, recently added her pronouns to her Twitter and campaign bios in what is being hailed as a show of solidarity with the trans community.
In an August 13 tweet, Warren said that “the Trump administration is trying to roll back important protections for trans Americans” and linked to a website called Protect Trans Health, run by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Transgender Law Center.
She added: “Everyone should be able to access high-quality, affordable, gender-affirming health care.”
Everyone should be able to access high-quality, affordable, gender-affirming health care. But the Trump administration is trying to roll back important protections for trans Americans. Help fight back by leaving a comment for HHS in protest: https://t.co/pKDcOqbsc7
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 13, 2019
Elizabeth Warren critical of Trump’s attempted rollback of trans healthcare protections.
In May 2019, the Trump administration proposed to eliminate trans healthcare protections, with a 204-page document of proposed regulations to roll back trans rights in the US.
The proposals would remove gender identity as one of the factors in health care and government policy, meaning it would no longer be a protected characteristic under sex-based discrimination framework.
I have my top surgery this Thursday! I’ve waited 42 years for this moment. Thank you for recognizing our humanity and right to healthcare.
— ?Anderson Evans, he/him, they/them (@FEMINISTAWREN) August 13, 2019
The regulation would reverse changes made by the Obama administration and comes as another knock to the transgender community.
The draft rule would reverse protections in the Affordable Care Act made by the Obama administration in 2016 that incorporated gender identity into discrimination “on the basis of sex”.
Rather than including transgender patients, the term “sex” would now be open to interpretation thus removing such specific protections.
It would mean healthcare providers could legally refuse gender-affirming healthcare to trans Americans.
✅ Done! Thank you so much for advocating for “gender-affirming” health care! Thank you so much for your FEARLESS FIGHT!
— Scarlett “WonderWarren HasAPlan” Rabe (@scarlettrabe) August 13, 2019
Warren’s latest show of allyship to the LGBT+ community comes after her June 2019 reintroduction of a bill that – if passed – could see same-sex couples in the United States receiving $57 million worth of refunds in tax.
