A U.S. district judge in New York blocked a rule by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Monday that rolled back an Obama-era rule that expanded the definition of “sex” to include gender identity, which is beyond the scope of clear language found in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In his decision, U.S. District Judge Frederic Block said that the rule was not consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in June, Bostock v Clayton County, in which the Court redefine “sex” in the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include homosexual behavior and transgender ideology.
 
The new rules from the HHS, set to take effect on Tuesday, are based on the principle that sex is determined by biology and would have provided protection to doctors who do not believe “gender affirming” surgery is appropriate medical care. 

However, Judge Block ruled that the administration should consider the impact of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bostock. He said the court was tasked with having to decide if the HHS rules were contrary to that decision. "The Court concludes that the proposed rules are, indeed, contrary to Bostock and, in addition, that HHS did act arbitrarily and capriciously in enacting them," Block said.  

The regulation has been put on hold while the court case proceeds.

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