Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Head Of HHS Civil Rights Office Is Opponent Of Transgender Patients' Rights, Planned Parenthood
Former Heritage Foundation staffer Roger Severino is now listed as the head of the civil rights office, which is in charge of enforcing patient privacy and civil rights protections including that services are free from discrimination and that patients have access to services such as interpreters.
The Trump administration has quietly appointed a Heritage Foundation staffer who has railed against civil rights protections for transgender patients as director of the federal agency charged with protecting the civil rights of all patients. Though the administration did not issue a formal announcement, Roger Severino is now listed on the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as director of the Office for Civil Rights. His prior position was as director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at the Heritage Foundation, where he focused on 鈥渞eligious liberty, marriage and life issues.鈥 (Ornstein, 3/24)
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