WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its final rule weakening disability nondiscrimination protections for people with gender dysphoria. 

Earlier this year, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) led a coalition of 149 organizations—including organizations advocating for disability rights and justice, access to health and human services, LGBTQI+ equality, gender justice, and civil rights broadly—in opposing the rule. 

“The administration is once again abusing its power to target the trans community,” said Ma’ayan Anafi, senior counsel for health equity and justice at NWLC. “HHS is twisting the law to carve out people with gender dysphoria from basic protections in a desperate and dangerous attempt to score political points. Despite what it might claim, this administration cannot rewrite the law.  

“This final rule will invite and even encourage illegal discrimination against people with gender dysphoria, opening them up to being mistreated or turned away from critical and even life-saving services. Make no mistake: This rule is not about staying true to the law or to the science. It’s about hurting people with gender dysphoria and the transgender community at large.” 

The HHS rule falsely claims that gender dysphoria, a condition many transgender people experience, can never qualify as a disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits disability discrimination by entities receiving federal funding. While HHS funding grantees are still bound by the law, the rule asserts that they are free to engage in illegal discrimination against people with gender dysphoria with impunity, exposing many to mistreatment and exclusion when accessing HHS-funded services like health care, child welfare services, and programs supporting people with low incomes.