Biden signs defense bill despite opposition to gender-affirming care restrictions

The November election of Donald Trump over Kamala Harris was seen by many as a triumph over the far-left policies of DEI and gender theory that have made their way into the federal government during the past four years.

Though he voiced objections before doing so, President Joe Biden last week signed into law a defense spending measure that includes language removing coverage of transgender medical treatment for dependents of military families, as Fox News reports, in what was perhaps an acknowledgment of the growing resistance to such practices in both the legislature and the electorate.

Biden signs bill, voices objections

As The Hill explains, Biden affixed his signature to the $898 billion National Defense Authorization Act which secured passage in the Senate by a vote of 85-14.

The bill notably provides for pay raises in the ranks of junior enlisted service members, raises overall spending on the military, and incorporates provisions meant to help counterbalance China's growing global influence.

The measure secured approval even with its inclusion of wording that restricts the use of money from TRICARE -- the active-duty military healthcare program -- for the provision of gender-affirming procedures for kids 18 years and younger.

It was this provision, however, that drew Biden's ire, with the president stating that he is opposed to the idea of, as he put it, targeting a particular group based on gender identity.

He also suggested that it “interferes with parents' roles to determine the best care for their children” and weakens the military's ability to attract and retain top talent, adding his belief that “no service member should have to decide between their family's health care access and their call to serve our nation.”

Activists lament provision

It was not just Biden who expressed regret over the aforementioned language, with Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, suggesting that the White House and lawmakers “failed military families.”

The head of the country's largest LGBTQ advocacy organization took aim at the outcome, suggesting that many of those who serve this country will be severely harmed by the decision.

“For them, this law is not about politics -- it's about losing the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions,” Robinson opined.

Several Democrats did express their dissatisfaction with the provision by voting against the package in its entirety, with some liberal senators having introduced an amendment designed to strip the language from the bill.

In the end, those efforts did not succeed, and, according to Rachel Branaman of the Modern Military Association of America, an LGBTQ advocacy group, Biden's signature on the legislation is “in direct opposition to claims that his administration is the most pro-LGBTQ+ in history,” but that is not to say that it is at all out of step with the preferences of a majority of Americans who do not want taxpayer funds used for gender-affirming procedures, particularly those performed on the young.