House Votes Down Proposal To Block Funds For Soldiers Seeking Gender-Related Medical Treatment
“It’s a hurtful amendment, it’s not needed,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla), a noted advocate for LGBT rights who has a transgender son. “I view it as a personal issue, because as a mom I’m impacted, but it’s an issue of fairness for everyone."
McClatchy:
Republicans Fail To Ban Medical Treatments For Transgender Troops
Two dozen House Republicans voted with 190 Democrats to sink the amendment that would prohibit military funds for soldiers seeking medical treatment related to gender transition... Hartzler’s proposal comes in the middle of renewed debate over transgender people serving in the military. (Daugherty and Bergengruen, 7/13)
In other veterans' health care news —
McClatchy:
Burn Pit Veterans Wait For Judge's Decision
Hundreds of veterans and their families who have spent eight years in federal court trying to prove that burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan made U.S. troops sick are worried they’ll hit a legal dead end if a Maryland judge decides the company that ran the smoke-belching disposal sites can’t be sued because it was working on behalf of the government... KBR has asked the judge to dismiss the burn pit case — a collection of more than 60 individual suits filed in multiple jurisdictions by military family members, veterans or former KBR employees — arguing that the federal courts lack jurisdiction to rule on a military decision to use the burn pits, and as a military contractor, it should be shielded from litigation. (Kime, 7/13)
