HOUSTON – Doctors for Change has submitted a public comment to the Department of Health and Human Services in opposition to the proposed rule change to HHS Grants Regulation RIN 0091-AC16 due to our concern that the proposed rule will limit discrimination protections for programs receiving HHS grants. We want to ensure that these protections stay in place. You can read the DFC statement below, drafted by the #DFCQueerHealth committee.
Jorge Cruz
Program Manager
Doctors for Change
[email protected]
www.doctorsforchange.org
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TEMPLATE:
“My name is ______. As a member of the organization Doctors for Change, which is committed to healthcare access for all people and working to ensure protections from discrimination, I am writing to oppose the proposed rule change to HHS Grants Regulation RIN 0091-AC16. I am strongly concerned that the proposed rule will limit discrimination protections for programs receiving HHS grants. In order to ensure that all patients have equal access to care and are protected from discrimination, it is vital that these protections stay in place as currently stated.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT
Dear HHS,
My name is Lou Weaver and I am the Co-Chair of the Queer Health at Doctors for Change. I’m writing to ask that you abandon the rule change to the published Health and Human Services Grants Regulation RIN 0091-AC16.
Doctors for Change (DFC) is a 501c3 that works to improve the health of all of Houston and Texas through research, education, collaboration, and advocacy. We are a network of doctors, health professionals, community members, and individuals who care about the health of all Houstonians and Texans.
On the organization’s behalf, I am writing in regard to the published Health and Human Services Grants Regulation RIN 0091-AC16. We at DFC believe that all Americans deserve equal protection, no matter who they are, where they come from, or what religion they believe in. Women, religious minorities, nonreligious people, LGBTQ people, and their families have been treated differently for far too long and we cannot return to a place where they are all considered second class citizens. It is imperative that HHS recognizes the vulnerability of these populations and protects them from discrimination. As providers, we take oaths to “do no harm” and that is what we must do as healthcare practitioners…take care of all of our patients to the best of our abilities; not just some of them. We are not allowed to pick and choose who we see based on religious beliefs. We are here to serve our communities as a whole. This proposed change could affect quite a few Texas families. We owe these families equity and protection.
Therefore, we ask HHS to abandon this rule and keep existing nondiscrimination rules in place that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion. Discrimination has no place in healthcare.
Respectfully submitted,
Lou Weaver
Co-Chair of Queer Health Committee
DFC Member
Doctors for Change
[email protected]
www.doctorsforchange.org