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Texas Judge Rules HIV Drug Mandate Violates Religious Rights

Judge Reed O’Connor has notoriously railed against the Affordable Care Act, abortion access, and gender-affirming care.

A northern Texas judge ruled Wednesday that mandatory insurance coverage for PrEP, an HIV prevention medication, violates employers’ religious rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The two brand names for the reportedly 99 percent effective HIV antiviral, Truvada or Descovy, were granted universal coverage under insurance programs by the federal government in July 2021. Judge Reed O’Conner is a George W. Bush appointee and a conservative standby, known for slapping back at Democratic initiatives. The judge was notorious for hounding the Affordable Care Act, in which he blocked transgender care and abortion access. Reed also undermined the Navy’s vaccine requirement during the pandemic. The attorney who brought the case to him, Jonathan Mitchell, has made a career out of challenging decades-old Supreme Court decisions, mostly notably suggesting in the Texas ‘Heartbeat’ Statute that private individuals should be able to enforce abortion restrictions in a bounty hunter-esque way, reported Reveal News. O’Conner has not yet determined how his ruling will be enacted, but a federal court is expected to appeal the ruling, reported The Advocate.