Judicial Watch announced today it received 115 pages in this first production of records in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which show the Biden administration, following the Dobbs decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, considered declaring a “public health emergency” and using federal lands to provide abortion services.
The records also show that millions of taxpayer dollars were used to establish an office to protect against “grave health threats” allegedly caused by climate change, and for facilitating then-Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine’s extreme focus on LGBT and “gender-affirming” health care.
On June 30, 2024, media reports indicated Levine rejected the suggestion of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) that an age limit of 14 be placed on those seeking gender-altering medical procedures.
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Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after Health and Human Services failed to respond to a July 2024, FOIA request for the records of Levine and other officials regarding the removal of the minimum age for the treatment of children in the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s (WPATH) 2022 standards of care (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:24-cv-02588)).
The newly obtained records include a “Briefing Memo for Assistant Secretary Admiral Levine,” which contains talking points prepared by staff for Levine’s July 19, 2022, meeting with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) to “provide an update on OASH’s [Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health] work in shared areas of interest,” including:
- Reproductive health access, including Title X (https://opa.hhs.gov/grant-programs/title-x-service-grants/about-title-x-service-grants)
- LGBTQI+ (especially youth mental health …)
- Long Covid …
- Commissioned Corps (https://www.usphs.gov/)
- OCCHE (Office of Climate Change and Health Equity)
A section of the briefing memo titled “Public Health Emergency” asks if an official public health emergency will be declared, a prepared answer includes: “The Biden-Harris Administration is never going to stop fighting to protect access to abortion care.”
The following question is “What did the President mean when he said he directed his team to look into whether he has the authority to declare a public health emergency? You haven’t actually done that yet? Is it still under consideration? And you said everything is on the table – what about federal lands?”
The prepared answer is:
The team has been evaluating every option – including a public health emergency. When we looked at declaring a public health emergency, we learned a couple things. One is that it doesn’t free very many resources. For example, what’s in the public health emergency fund, there’s very little money – tens of thousands of dollars in it….
In a section titled “Federal Lands” a question is posed, “What is the Administration thinking in regards to using federal lands to provide abortion access?” The answer includes, “As I have continued to say, we’re exploring many options. However, we at HHS [Health and Human Services] are not experts on public lands.”
A section in the briefing memo dedicated to OCCHE [Office of Climate Change and Health Equity] states that its mission “is to protect the U.S. population from the grave health threats posed by climate change.”
Talking points address the office’s accomplishments in its first 10 months and discuss a multi-agency $206 million budget allocation for fiscal year 2022:
Internationally: By making commitments to community and health system resilience and decarbonization in our health systems, we not only have provided global leadership in climate change and health but also signaled domestically the direction the US health system is heading in these areas.
Intergovernmental: Launched the Biden Administration’s Interagency Working Group on Extreme Heat, which coordinates that national response to extreme heat. Extreme heat kills more Americans than any other weather-related disaster.
***
Launched a federal health systems learning network on decarbonization and resilience [including the Veteran’s Administration, Department of Defense, and Indian Health Service].
Within HHS [Health and Human Services]: Has mobilized every HHS OpDiv [Operating Division] to create climate health and equity strategies that they are beginning to implement.
***
One of OCCHE’s [Office of Climate Change and Health Equity] key priorities is health sector decarbonization and resilience.
***
The Office is also committed to a suite of activities to build climate literacy within the health sector workforce. This includes ongoing collaboration with climate change and health physician fellowships at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
***
On May 31st, an Office of Environmental Justice was established under OCCHE [Office of Climate Change and Health Equity] to better protect the health of disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations on the frontlines of pollution and other environmental health issues.
***
The Fiscal Year 2022 budget also included $6 million in evaluation funding to create the OCCHE [Office of Climate Change and Health Equity] and $100 million each to NIH [National Institutes of Health] and CDC [Centers for Disease Control] to invest in climate and health research and adaptation.”
The records contain an agenda for Levine’s June 26-29, 2022, trip to Florida, including:
- A “Trans and non-binary youth event” in Orlando.
- An appearance and photo-op at the Pulse nightclub memorial site in Orlando.
- A meeting at Borinquen Health Care Center in Miami to advocate for children under age 5 to receive the Covid vaccine.
- A meeting with Miami’s “Heat Officer” Jane Gilbert, who the agenda describes as “the first position like it in the world” (to coordinate heat protection efforts for vulnerable communities (https://www.miamidade.gov/global/economy/environment/chief-heat-officer.page)
- A gender affirming care trans health roundtable.
- A meeting and lunch with officers of the “Take VA Pride Event” in Miami (an event hosted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) specifically designed to celebrate and support LGBTQ+ veterans).
A briefing memo for Levine’s June 29, 2022, appearance at a “Trans Health Roundtable” held at The Miami Foundation states:
HHS [Health and Human Services] is committed to using every tool in our toolbox to ensure health equity for all. This includes actions like NIH [National Institutes for Health] increasing funding on gender-affirming procedures to further develop the evidence base for improved standards of care. SAMSHA [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration] is advancing research addressing the harms of conversion therapy. HHS expanding access to gender-affirming care as an essential health benefit.
“Admiral Levine and the Biden administration were quite simply obsessed with promoting the transgender extremist mutilation of children,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and, quite frankly law enforcement, should do a thorough scan of what Levine was up to.”
