On the same day that a final version of
a health care rule was announced, the city of San Francisco sued the
Trump administration to keep it from taking effect.
Critics of President Donald Trump's
so-called conscience rule for health care providers have said that it
would allow health care workers to refuse to provide medical
treatment to people, particularly women seeking abortions and LGBT
Americans.
The Trump administration has said that
the rule is needed to protect health care providers who object to
certain procedures from discrimination.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis
Herrera announced the lawsuit on Thursday.
“At its core, this rule is about
denying people medical care,” Herrera said in a statement. “This
administration is willing to sacrifice patients' health and lives –
particularly those of women and members of the LGBTQ community, and
low-income families – to score right-wing political points. It's
reprehensible.”
Herrera said that the city risks losing
$1 billion in federal funding if San Francisco refuses to comply with
the rule.
“Once again, the Trump administration
is trying to bully local governments by threatening to withhold
federal funds. That's not how American democracy works,” he said.
Roger Severino, director of the Office
for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
defended the rule in an interview with BuzzFeed
News, saying that “patients want doctors who match their
values.”
According to the Bay
Area Reporter, the case names U.S. Secretary of Health and
Human Services Alex Michael Azar II as a defendant in the lawsuit.
(Related: Nancy
Pelosi: Trump's health care rule “greenlights” discrimination
against LGBT Americans.)