Tony Perkins, president of the Christian conservative Family Research Council (FRC), has cheered a Trump administration proposal to eliminate health care protections for transgender patients.

Perkins said that reversing the Obama-era rule would help “protect health care providers from being forced to participate in and perform services that substantially violate their consciences.”

The proposal, announced Friday by Roger Severino, director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights, would remove language put in place as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare) that defined “sex” to include gender identity.

(Related: Trump admin proposed rule would eliminate health care protections for transgender people.)

“We applaud the Department of Health and Human Services for correcting an Obama era injustice,” said Perkins, a vocal opponent of LGBT rights. “Three years ago, the Obama administration issued a rule out of thin air that redefined ‘sex discrimination’ to include ‘gender identity” and ‘pregnancy termination.’ The courts soon blocked the far-reaching rule that would have mandated federally funded health care providers offer services like sex change operations and even abortion.”

“The rule proposed today helps protect health care providers from being forced to participate in and perform services that substantially violate their consciences. Family Research Council fully supports these revisions to ensure Obamacare isn’t used as a vehicle to advance transgender or abortion politics,” he continued.

LGBT groups have said that the proposal would allow doctors and hospital emergency rooms to turn away transgender patients.