A federal judge in North Dakota blocked an extremely controversial mandate by the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, that would force doctors to perform “gender reassignment surgery” on individuals who identify as “transgender,” according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The ruling came after a group of Catholic nuns filed a lawsuit against the federal government, citing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and arguing that such a mandate would force doctors to violate their own conscience.
District Court Judge Peter D. Welte declared in his ruling that “absent an injunction, they will either be ‘forced to violate their sincerely-held religious beliefs’…‘or to incur severe monetary penalties for refusing to comply.’” He concluded by pointing out that “an injunction will also advance the public interest because the protection of constitutional rights is ‘always in the public interest.’”
The ruling is the first major legal roadblock for Joe Biden after assuming the presidency, after he had pledged to expand many aspects of Obamacare such as extra privileges for LGBTQ individuals.
Biden has already rolled back a Trump Administration regulation that prohibited “transgender” students in public schools from using whichever bathrooms and locker rooms they choose; by reversing that rule, Biden has now dictated that all 50 states must allow such students to use whichever facilities they please, even despite widespread complaints from students and parents who believe that such a decision may increase the risk of sexually predatory behavior in public schools.