(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) joined Reps. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Angie Craig (D-MN) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) and more than 100 House Members in opposing a proposed  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule change that would reverse previous nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, or religion. 

The Members wrote: "This proposed rule single-handedly removes comprehensive protections from discrimination applied to all grants administered by HHS, thus permitting discrimination in federally funded adoption and foster care agencies, elder abuse programs, and many other HHS-funded health and human service programs that service millions of Americans. We urge you to withdraw this rule and halt a harmful disruption of services to children, adults and families in our country."

The rule, proposed by the Trump Administration this month, would reverse a 2017 regulation which guaranteed HHS grantees served all Americans equally despite religious background or sexual orientation. Furthermore, this new rule’s implementation would allow agencies and programs to discriminate in and deny services across a wide range of areas, including adoption and foster care, health care at community health centers, family preservation, HIV testing and prevention, supportive services for homeless youth, Head Start programs, reproductive health care, Meals on Wheels and more.

A signed copy of the letter is available here. 

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