Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Proposed Rule From HHS Would Allow Foster Care, Adoption Agencies To Deny Services To LGBTQ Families
The New York Times: Adoption Groups Could Turn Away L.G.B.T. Families Under Proposed Rule
A proposed rule by the Trump administration would allow foster care and adoption agencies to deny their services to L.G.B.T. families on faith-based grounds. The proposal would have “enormous” effects and touch the lives of a large number of people, Denise Brogan-Kator, chief policy officer at Family Equality, an advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families, said on Saturday. (Taylor, 11/2)
The Associated Press: Rule Would Let Faith-Based Groups Exclude LGBT Parents
The Trump administration on Friday proposed a rule that would allow faith-based foster care and adoption agencies to continue getting taxpayer funding even if they exclude LGBT families and others from their services based on religious beliefs. The announcement generated a sharp backlash from some Democratic lawmakers and LGBT advocacy groups. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the Trump administration was working overtime to "implement cruel and discriminatory policies, and wasting taxpayer dollars in its obsessive pursuit." (11/1)
The Washington Post: Proposed HHS Rule Would Strip Obama-Era Protections For LGBTQ Individuals
The draft says HHS will remove language introduced during the Obama administration that “no person otherwise eligible will be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination” based on a long list of characteristics including race, age, gender identity and sexual orientation. In its place, the agency would guarantee protections required by federal statute. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and others provide protections for everything on the Obama-era list except for sexual orientation and gender identity. Efforts to get Congress to add these protections over the years have stalled. The most recent attempt, the Equality Act, passed the Democratic-controlled House in May but has not moved in the Republican-controlled Senate. (Cha, 11/1)
CQ: HHS Backs Away From Obama-Era Sexual Orientation Protections
Conservative groups celebrated it as a win for protecting religious freedom, and the Trump administration said that the proposal follows civil rights laws enacted by Congress and Supreme Court decisions. “These require that the federal government not infringe on religious freedom in its operation of HHS grant programs and address the impact of regulatory actions on small entities,” HHS said in a statement. (Siddons and Raman, 11/1)
In other news —
Tampa Bay Times: Tampa Will Ask Federal Appeals Court To Reinstate Ban On Conversion Therapy
The city of Tampa isn’t ready to give up trying to outlaw so-called conversion therapy, a controversial and discredited treatment promoted by some religious groups as a way to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. City attorneys on Friday filed a notice of appeal in federal court, a first step toward asking an appellate court to overturn a U.S. district judge’s decision on Oct. 4 to strike down a citywide ban of the practice. (O'Donnell, 11/2)
