The American Society of Clinical Oncology published an article in the JCO Oncology Practice titled “Protecting Transgender and Gender-Diverse Patients With Cancer in a Shifting Political Landscape”. The article details how the health and wellbeing Transgender Cancer patients are at risk due to new policy measures that could soon be implemented.
In May 2019, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) first proposed a regulatory reform to eliminate federal protections against health care discrimination on the basis of gender identity in Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This reform purportedly seeks to promote religious freedom and help reduce unnecessary costs to the American public. However, if implemented, the changes will substantially limit the rights of all patients while eliminating prohibitions against discrimination by insurers, hospitals, and individual providers. The burden of these changes will undoubtedly be felt by the LGBT community as a whole and represent especially imminent threats to the safety and health of our country’s TGD people, including those with cancer. Within this context, we urge the oncology community to commit collectively to protecting and promoting the rights of our TGD patients to receive high-quality and inclusive cancer care.
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