Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers he would withdraw a controversial Biden administration rule protecting transgender health care.
“That rule is anti science,” Kennedy said Thursday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee. The hearing is the second over President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kennedy to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services, which manages everything from vaccine to abortion policy.
During Thursday’s hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asked Kennedy whether he would rescind a rule issued by President Joe Biden’s HHS that the senator said requires “every doctor in America” taking federal funding to “to conduct gender transition and gender so-called affirming procedures.”
“That means hormones, that means puberty blockers. That means surgeries in some cases,” Hawley said.
Hawley didn’t specify which rule, but he’s likely referring to an April 2024 regulation that interprets Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act as protecting transgender people from health discrimination.
The transgender health protections faced a barrage of litigation after the HHS issued them last year and were blocked by a federal judge from going into effect.
The Trump administration signaled intent to rollback such measures.
During his first day in office, Trump signed an executive action recognizing two sexes and excluding gender identity. Acting HHS secretary Dorothy Fink also announced the agency would prioritize religious protections.
Kennedy responded to Hawley that the rule was “anti science,” and “the most thorough meta review on gender affirming care” reported “really catastrophic impacts on children.”
Emergency Abortion
Kennedy’s comments come on day two of contentious hearings with senators over vaccines, abortions, and other areas under Kennedy’s purview should he be confirmed to lead the HHS. Thursday’s hearing followed a similar trajectory as Wednesday.
Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) criticized Kennedy for not understanding what his authority as HHS secretary would be with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA).
How EMTALA interacts with state abortion restrictions was a point of contention for the Biden administration. Biden’s HHS had taken the position that EMTALA requires doctors perform abortions when needed to treat an emergency medical condition even when states ban the procedure.
Since taking office, Trump signed an executive action reinstating a policy that requires international nonprofits to certify they don’t provide abortion services if they want to keep getting federal funding.
Trump also signed an executive action reaffirming the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal dollars from going to abortions, and revoking Biden administration efforts to strengthen abortion protections.
“In yesterday’s hearing you did not seem to know anything about EMTALA, even though I raised it with you during our meeting last week,” Blunt Rochester told Kennedy.
She then asked whether he agreed “that a person who is experiencing severe pregnancy complications should be able to receive emergency care to save their life if that care is an abortion?”
“If it’s necessary to save the life of the mother, of course,” Kennedy replied.
To contact the reporter on this story:
To contact the editor responsible for this story: