HomeNewsJudge blocks Biden admin. mandate requiring Christian employers cover trans surgeries By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Tuesday, May 17, 2022Get Our Latest News for FREESubscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.SubscribeAt issue were two mandates from the EEOC and HHS interpreting Title VII civil rights discrimination protections based on “sex” to include sexual orientation and gender identity.“The Alliance must either violate its sincerely held beliefs or face monetary losses, fines, and even civil liabilities. The Plaintiffs and their members face a very real irreparable harm if they are either forced to comply or if they refuse to comply,” wrote Traynor, a Trump appointee. “The Alliance has already shown it faces an injury. Absent a preliminary injunction, the Alliance and its members will be forced to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs or incur severe monetary penalties.”The CEA is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that has successfully argued religious liberty cases at the U.S. Supreme Court.ADF Legal Counsel Jacob Reed said in a statement that he believes the “court was on firm ground to halt enforcement of these unlawful mandates that disrespect people of faith.”“All employers and healthcare providers, including those in the Christian Employers Alliance, have the constitutional right to conduct their business and render treatment in a manner consistent with their deeply held religious beliefs,” Reed said.“The employers we represent believe that God purposefully created humans as either male or female, and so it would violate their religious beliefs to pay for or perform life-altering medical procedures or surgeries that seek to change one’s biological sex.”The Obama administration instituted the mandate in 2016 and the Trump administration repealed the mandate in 2018.The Biden administration reinstituted the policy in 2021 and justified the rule by citing the 2020 Supreme Court decision Bostock v. Clayton County. In the employment case, the high court ruled that Title VII applied to sexual orientation and gender identity.“The Supreme Court in Bostock recognized that to discriminate against a person based on sexual orientation or transgender status is to discriminate against that individual based on sex,” stated the EEOC last year.“Therefore, the Supreme Court held that Title VII makes it unlawful for a covered employer to take an employee’s sexual orientation or transgender status into account in making employment-related decisions.”U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor granted an injunction against the HHS mandate on behalf of the Franciscan Alliance last August, concluding that the HHS’ mandate violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.“When the RFRA violation is clear and the threat of irreparable harm is present, a permanent injunction exempting Christian Plaintiffs from that religion-burdening conduct is the appropriate relief,” ruled O’Connor.Follow Michael Gryboski on Twitter or FacebookWas this article helpful?Yes1 VoteNoHelp keep The Christian Post free for everyone.By making a recurring donation or a one-time donation of any amount, you're helping to keep CP's articles free and accessible for everyone.$25/month$50/quarter$100/yearOne-timeNot this timeWe’re sorry to hear that.Hope you’ll give us another try and check out some other articles. Return to homepage. Christian group sues EEOC, HHS over mandates forcing employers to cover gender transition surgeriesCourt must consider giving doctors religious exemption from performing trans surgeries: judgesBiden admin. appeals ruling protecting religious hospitals from transgender surgery mandate Biden threatens to take action after Texas designates puberty blockers, castration ‘child abuse’SponsoredMost PopularMatt Gaetz withdraws from consideration to be Trump’s attorney generalTrans lawmaker Sarah McBride won't use women's bathrooms on Capitol HillSPLC doxxes writers for Babylon Bee's sister site; Elon Musk calls group 'criminal organization'Christian leaders, politicians react to ICC's arrest warrant for Israel PM NetanyahuThere is a better way to lose weight than OzempicMore ArticlesMigrant children trafficked, sent to strip club; Republicans press Xavier Becerra for answersBiden awards Ex-Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards highest civilian honorChristian leaders, politicians react to ICC's arrest warrant for Israel PM NetanyahuTrans lawmaker Sarah McBride won't use women's bathrooms on Capitol HillMatt Gaetz withdraws from consideration to be Trump’s attorney general