Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Administration Extends Title IX Protections To Transgender Students
The Washington Post: Title IX Protects Transgender Students, Says Education Department
The U.S. Education Department said Wednesday that the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education extends to gay and transgender students, the latest move in a broad effort by the Biden administration to roll back Trump-era restrictions on transgender students’ rights. The department said Wednesday that its new position comes out of its interpretation of a landmark Supreme Court decision a year ago in Bostock v. Clayton County, which extended protections in the Civil Rights Act against discrimination in the workplace to gay and transgender Americans. (Strauss, 6/16)
In other news on LGBTQ issues —
Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Lawmakers Continue To Mull Restrictions For Transgender Youth
As they consider legislation affecting transgender youth, Utah lawmakers on Wednesday heard on one hand from a University of Utah doctor who runs a clinic serving hundreds of teens who are exploring or undergoing a transition. On the other side of the issue was a selection of non-physicians, who offered up research from a group that links being gay with pedophilia and compares adolescent transgender health care to “child abuse.” But in the end, some Utah legislators said they remained torn about who they should listen to as they think about limiting youth access to medication that suppresses puberty and other gender-affirming health care. (Rodgers, 6/17)
KHN: It’s About To Get Tougher For Transgender People In Montana To Amend Birth Certificates
Kyndra Nevin recalls with dread having to ask a Montana judge to sign an order documenting that she’d had gender-confirmation surgery so she could change the gender on her birth certificate to female. Nevin, a Bozeman resident and now 55, said the process she went through about a decade ago was humiliating and she continually worried the judge would deny her request. “I had to out myself just to get that court order, to basically every court staff member that I came in contact with,” she said. “Until it was all said and done, I was never sure if it was going to be OK.” (Halland, 6/17)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Sands Cares Donation To Aid The Center Expand Health Clinic
Sands Cares will contribute $163,000 to The LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada, according to a news release. The donation will close out the $400,000 initial phase of the capital campaign to expand the Arlene Cooper Community Health Center at 401 S. Maryland Parkway in downtown Las Vegas. The Center plans to provide full onsite health and wellness care for LGBTQIA+ Las Vegans and low-income downtown residents. The capital campaign funds also will support the organization’s long-term goal of generating recurring revenue through the clinic to sustain its LGBTQIA+ programming in Southern Nevada, according to the release. (Ross, 6/16)
In other news about the Biden administration —
Politico: Hamburgers, Fauci And Election Fraud: How Biden World Combats Disinformation
As Joe Biden walked out of a recent briefing, a reporter called out one last, unrelated question.“Mr. President, do you still have confidence in Dr. Fauci?” Biden popped his head back into the room, “Yes, I'm very confident in Dr. Fauci,” Biden said. No one would have expected the president to answer the question any differently. Anthony Fauci is his chief adviser on the Covid-19 pandemic, a celebrated infectious disease expert, and, for much of his lengthy career, one of the most trusted voices in all of government. For the White House, however, the fact that the question was even asked set off alarm bells. (Korecki, 6/16)
CIDRAP: VA Must Modernize Supply Chain Amid COVID-19, GAO Says
In the Government Accountability Office's (GAO's) latest report yesterday, the agency recommends that the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) develop a supply chain management strategy, including an explanation of how all its supply chain initiatives relate to each other. Currently, the VA's main supply chain initiatives are around implementing the Department of Defense's (DOD's) Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) inventory system, creating four regional readiness centers for critical medical supplies, and participating in the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Warstopper Program, which would increase its access to critical medical supplies during emergencies. However, as GAO notes throughout the report, these efforts are either in their early stages or have already been delayed. (McLernon, 6/16)
