RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia's Attorney General Mark Herring on Friday joined a coalition of 26 public jurisdictions and health care providers in filing a motion to block the Trump Administration’s refusal-of-care rule that would allow businesses and individuals to discriminate against patients and refuse to provide necessary health care.
The motion was for a summary judgment requesting that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
“This dangerous rule is just another attempt by the Trump Administration to undermine health care in this country,” said Attorney General Herring. “Everyone deserves access to fair, quality health care without the fear of discrimination. I will continue to protect all Virginians and do everything I can to make sure that this rule never goes into effect.”
Attorney General Herring and his colleagues allege in the lawsuit that the final rule, if implemented, would undermine the delivery of health care by allowing a wide range of health care institutions and individuals the right to refuse care and discriminate against patients.
The rule drastically expands the number of providers eligible to make such refusals, ranging from ambulance drivers to emergency room doctors to receptionists to customer service representatives at insurance companies. The rule makes this right absolute and categorical, and no matter what reasonable steps a health provider or employer makes to accommodate the views of an objecting individual, if that individual rejects a proposed accommodation, a provider or employer is left with no recourse.
View the lawsuit below:
Attorney General Herring today joined the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia; the Cities of New York and Chicago; and Cook County, Illinois in filing the motion. Additionally, two separate lawsuits were brought against the Trump Administration for implementation of this rule by Planned Parenthood Federation of America and one of its affiliates, as well as by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and Public Health Solutions, which have now been consolidated into this lawsuit.