The Hubert H. Humphrey Building, HHS Headquarters, in Washington, D.C. (Photo Credit: GSA/US Government)
The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it was rescinding what it categorized as “inappropriate, overly broad waivers issued by the prior administration.”
States and child welfare agencies – including states and organizations that did not make such requests – were granted exemptions from program nondiscrimination requirements in a rule that was not in effect. The LGBTQ community was directly impacted, especially in cases of health care issues.
In a press release Nov. 18, HHS stated that the department was re-establishing its long-standing practice of evaluation of religious exemptions and modifications of program requirements on a case-by-case basis, as needed, and as is required by law—which was unprecedently changed in 2017 by the Trump Administration.
“HHS will not condone the blanket use of religious exemptions against any person or blank checks to allow discrimination against any persons, importantly including LGBTQ+ persons in taxpayer-funded programs.” the department said in a statement.
Under the Trump Administration, HHS issued letters to three states – South Carolina, Texas and Michigan – along with certain child welfare agencies in those states, waiving nondiscrimination requirements based on religious objections.
The department has now determined that these actions were inappropriate and unnecessary, given that the Trump Administration did not enforce civil rights protections in the first instance in grants and instead issued a Notice of Nonenforcement for the 2016 grants rule.
“The waivers are inconsistent with the Department’s critical goal of combating discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity,” the HHS statement read.
“Today’s action supports the bedrock American principle and a core mission of our Department – to ensure Americans have access to quality health and human services. Our action ensures we are best prepared to protect every American’s right to be free of discrimination,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “With the large number of discrimination claims before us, we owe it to all who come forward to act, whether to review, investigate or take appropriate measures to protect their rights. At HHS, we treat any violation of civil rights or religious freedoms seriously.”
The department said that it is returning to its longstanding practice of a case-by-case evaluation of requests for religious exemptions, waivers and modifications of program requirements across its components, which is demanded by the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act.
RFRA is a federal law with which all federal agencies must comply, the statement continued adding that the department will continue to evaluate RFRA and other religious conscience laws as these requests come forward.
“Today’s action by the Department of Health and Human Services will prevent ongoing discrimination, protect religious freedom and expand civil rights and equal opportunity for LGBTQ people. The U.S. Constitution does not allow government to subsidize private entities that discriminate against us for who we are and who we love,” Kierra Johnson, Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force said in an emailed statement.
