{
"type": "rich",
"version": "1.0",
"provider_name": "Action Network",
"provider_url": "https://actionnetwork.org",
"html": "",
"author_name": "Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund",
"author_url": "https://actionnetwork.org/groups/native-organizers-alliance",
"title": "Submit a public comment to protect Two-Spirit people, Tribal sovereignty, and treaty rights: Oppose the federal government’s new rules that would restrict access to medically necessary healthcare. ",
"thumbnail_url": "https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/groups/default_facebook_images/000/022/886/original/NOA_ActionFundBanner2.png?1668645803",
"description": "U.S. officials in the presidential administration are endangering Native youth and young people in lower-income families. Even though all major medical associations agree that gender-affirming healthcare is life-saving, medically necessary, and safe, the Department of Health & Human Services is trying to drastically restrict access to such care. The people in charge of Medicaid administration have proposed new rules, including a policy that would stop federal dollars in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from covering gender-affirming healthcare. This would disproportionately harm Native youth: Over half of all Indigenous children get health insurance through Medicaid and CHIP. If finalized, these rules would violate the federal government’s treaty obligations to provide healthcare for Tribes and to uphold Tribal sovereignty. Honoring and protecting Two-Spirit people is a return to our original ways and a reflection of traditional Indigenous values. Native languages have many words for our Two-Spirit relatives who have often held sacred roles in our Indigenous societies, before colonizers suppressed Native ways of life and imposed strict rules about gender and sexuality. Now, within the broader LGBTQ+ community, Native Two-Spirit people face some of the highest rates of violence, discrimination, and suicide. However, receiving gender-affirming healthcare -- such as reversible and safe medication to delay puberty -- reduces the risk of suicide by over 70% among trans and Two-Spirit young people. Studies show it also improves their quality of life for the rest of their lives. Will you speak up for Native youth and other trans young people by submitting a public comment today? Click “START WRITING” to submit a public comment to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its agency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Revoke the proposed rules to restrict access to",
"url": "https://actionnetwork.org/letters/public-comment-to-protect-two-spirit-healthcare"
}