by Michelle Diament | February 20, 2025
“Over a dozen states are seeking to invalidate one of the nation’s key disability rights laws, advocates are warning, jeopardizing access to health care, education and more.
A lawsuit brought by Texas and 16 other states is calling for an end to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The 1973 law bars discrimination on the basis of disability at any entity that receives federal funds.
The suit known as Texas v. Becerra was filed in response to an update to Section 504 regulations that was finalized by the Biden administration last year. With the litigation, the states are looking to ensure that gender dysphoria does not qualify as a disability under the rule. However, in challenging the regulations, the states’ lawsuit asks the court to “declare Section 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794, unconstitutional” in its entirety.”