Washington (December 13, 2019) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) today sent a letter to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) voicing strong opposition to the agency’s decision to roll back current nondiscrimination regulations and proposed rule that would allow HHS grantees to deny services to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community under the guise of religious freedom. The letter questions whether HHS conducted any analysis on the harmful impacts of this rule prior to its publication, and calls on the agency to provide documentation of this analysis. The Senators explain that removing protections for LGBTQ individuals raises serious concerns about LGBTQ individuals’ access to programs administered through HHS, including HIV prevention, youth homelessness, refugee resettlement efforts, and violence prevention services for the elderly. The proposed rule would be especially devastating for LGBTQ foster youth, who represent more than one out of five youth in the foster system, where faith-based adoption and foster care agencies play a vital role in the federally-funded welfare system.
“Those who depend on these programs should not be denied access to them simply because of who they are or whom they love,” write Senators Markey and Gillibrand in their letter to Secretary Alex Azar. “The harmful consequences of both this proposed rule as well as of HHS’s refusal to enforce existing federal nondiscrimination regulations are deeply concerning to us.”
A copy of the Senators’ letter can be found HERE.
In their letter, the Senators request responses to questions that include:
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