Overview
- U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. in the Southern District of Mississippi granted summary judgment and vacated HHS’s May 2024 Section 1557 rule nationwide.
- A 15-state Republican-led coalition led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch brought the challenge.
- The court concluded that Title IX’s undefined term "sex" must be read in its 1972 context to mean biological sex, finding HHS exceeded its statutory authority.
- The vacated rule would have barred covered health programs and insurers from denying gender-affirming care that they provide for other purposes, relying on Title IX via the ACA.
- The regulation had been stayed since July 2024 and never took effect, so immediate operational changes are limited even as the ruling sets a new legal posture that could spur further litigation.