Paxton Launches Assault on Protections for Trans People and Women Seeking Abortions

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton never met a piece of the Affordable Care Act he wasn't going to doggedly try to take off the books. The latest example, promoted Tuesday by Paxton's office, is an attempt by Texas and seven other states to permanently block federal regulations protecting the trans community and abortion-seeking women.

In 2016, the last year of President Barack Obama's administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services implemented new regulations defining sex discrimination as it relates to the ACA to include refusing to provide insurance coverage or refusing to provide medical treatment to transgender individuals or women who'd decided to seek an abortion.

Almost immediately after the department put the regulations on the books, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor issued an injunction prohibiting their enforcement across the United States. O'Connor is the same judge cherry-picked by Paxton to hear his lawsuit against the entire ACA. O'Connor's ruling in that lawsuit, that the entire law is unconstitutional, is on hold pending what is sure to be a lengthy series of appeals.

After O'Connor stopped the regulations from going into effect, the Obama administration denounced the ruling, saying that it struck a blow against health care equality.

Read more: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-ken-paxton-takes-on-another-piece-of-obamacare-11548786