GLMA President Jesse Joad and Executive Director Hector Vargas issued the following joint statement on May 4, 2017, on the signing of an Executive Order laying the groundwork for anti-LGBT discrimination and on the US House passage of revisions to the Affordable Care Act:

“Make no mistake, the Executive Order issued today creates a health hazard for LGBT people and adversely impacts the health and well-being of the nation as a whole.  The Order greenlights allowing employers to use religious objections to refuse to cover reproductive healthcare, which is an unwarranted assault on the relationship between patient and provider and the decisions they make together about medically necessary care for the patient. Thousands of women, including members of the LGBT community, could be denied essential reproductive healthcare as a result of this Executive Order. The Executive Order creates a dangerous slippery slope where healthcare coverage can be refused based on a religious or moral objection and paves the way for a license to discriminate against LGBT people and their healthcare. GLMA will continue its work to oppose these disastrous policies.

“On the other side of town, the US House took direct aim at undermining healthcare for millions of Americans by passing the American Health Care Act today. This unacceptable measure would strip healthcare from 24 million Americans and gut core provisions of Obamacare, such as mandates for essential health benefits and discrimination protections based on pre-existing conditions. We must now turn our efforts to US Senators and call on them to stop the AHCA, which will have catastrophic consequences for the health of all Americans, especially the LGBT community, people living with HIV and other communities who experience health disparities.”