Interfaith Alliance: Proposed HHS Rule “poses a direct threat to the health and wellbeing of millions of patients.”

For Immediate Release Contact: Shannon Craig Straw, West End Strategy Team, 202-776-7700, scstraw@westendstrategy.com

Criticizing the announced rule that will weaken protections for transgender people in health care, Rabbi Jack Moline, president of Interfaith Alliance, called the administration’s latest move only the latest attempt to use undermine the rights of LGBTQ+ people by using religious freedom as a license to discriminate:

“The Trump administration’s proposed rule poses a direct threat to the health and wellbeing of millions of patients. Discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, medical history or any other reason has no place in our healthcare system.

“This proposed rule is only the latest iteration of the Trump administration’s campaign to undermine the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people and women, using religious freedom as a wedge. The First Amendment protects our private spiritual lives, ensuring that every American can believe and worship as we choose, with one key one restriction: religious freedom cannot be used to deny the civil rights of others.

“We reject efforts by this administration to redefine religious freedom to permit health care providers to opt out of federal civil rights laws or impose their religious beliefs on the patients in their care. We urge people of conscience to raise the alarm during the 60-day public comment period about this profound threat to the physical, mental, and spiritual health of our nation.”

Interfaith Alliance is a network of people of diverse faiths and beliefs from across the country working together to build a resilient democracy and fulfill America’s promise of religious freedom and civil rights not just for some, but for all. We mobilize powerful coalitions to challenge Christian nationalism and religious extremism, while fostering a better understanding of the healthy boundaries between religion and government. We advocate at all levels of government for an equitable and just America where the freedoms of belief and religious practice are protected, and where all persons are treated with dignity and have the opportunity to thrive. For more information visit interfaithalliance.org.