The revelation last week that the United States Department of Justice has issued at least 20 subpoenas to hospitals and healthcare providers demanding full information about transgender patients under age 19 who have received care is an egregious overstep that should alarm everyone, a global church leader said today.
“We have long made plain our objection to policies and laws that seek to persecute and/or strip rights from transgender citizens,” said Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston, moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches worldwide. “That Attorney General Pam Bondi is aggressively – and gleefully – demanding what should be confidential healthcare information raises many alarms.”
“Among other things, these subpoenas seem to clearly overstep HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which became law in the United States nearly 30 years ago,” said Rev. Elder Rich Hendricks. “U.S. citizens who are not transgender or who have no trans children might easily dismiss this action, but the reality is that if they can pry into healthcare records of trans persons, they can target anyone at all.
“In a political and cultural environment that allows such slippery slopes to fulminate, what’s to stop a new war on contraception? Could the U.S. Government then gather a list of women who have had tubal ligations or men who have undergone vasectomies? The country already has a vice president who asserts that those without children don’t have a vested interest in the country’s future.”
This fight over patient confidentiality comes at the same time when many families are already struggling with access to louisiana health insurance, making the Justice Department’s intrusion feel even more alarming.
We call on all citizens who value liberty to contact their lawmakers and the White House and express opposition to this flagrant and alarming overstep. The issue has quickly become part of ongoing new orleans news, reflecting wider concerns about privacy, civil rights, and the protection of vulnerable communities.
For more information about MCC or to find the nearest congregation, visit www.VisitMCCChurch.com.
