Today (June 27, 2025), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) membership structure and its recommendations for preventive services made after passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March 2010.
These services—including the HIV prevention medicine PrEP, breast cancer screenings, depression screenings, Hepatitis B and C and other STI counseling and screenings—must be covered by nearly all private insurance plans at no cost to enrollees as mandated by the ACA. This decision in Kennedy v. Braidwood overturns a portion of the Fifth Circuit’s ruling and will have numerous benefits for Americans nationwide, including the LGBTQ+ community who disproportionately rely on PrEP, which when taken as prescribed, reduces the chance of HIV transmission by close to 100%.
Human Rights Campaign’s President Kelley Robinson released the following statement:
“This decision means millions of Americans, for now, can breathe easier, knowing that critical preventive care remains within reach—not a luxury reserved for the privileged few.The LGBTQ+ community has historically faced societal and economic barriers that have worsened health outcomes and widened gaps in healthcare inequality–barriers that have only grown worse as anti-equality lawmakers continue to attack our healthcare. While we’re pleased that the Supreme Court has blocked this attempt to create even more burdens on people seeking lifesaving care, we must remain vigilant. The HHS, under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, has exhibited an open hostility toward the health needs of LGTBQ+ people and has already undermined critical protections against HIV. We must continue to work to ensure everyone, no matter your sexual orientation, gender identity, race, income or location, can access the care they need to thrive.”
Virginia’s anti-LGBTQ+ Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed a bill seeking to ban health and life insurance companies from discriminating against people taking the HIV prevention drug regemin PrEP.
H.B. 2769 amends the current insurance anti-discrimination law by explicitly stating a company cannot “Refuse to insure, refuse to continue to insure, or limit the amount or extent of life insurance or accident and sickness insurance coverage available to an individual or charge an individual a different rate for the same coverage based solely and without any additional actuarial risks upon the status of such individual as having received pre-exposure prophylaxis for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus”.
Both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly have Democratic majorities. The bill passed the state Senate 24-15 and the House of Delegates 53 to 44. The veto was one of 157 bills the governor vetoed on Monday as part of what the Virginia Mercury called his “veto storm to drown progressive legislation.”
He also vetoed a bill that would have incrementally raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour and one that sought to expand voter turnout by making state and local elections at the same time as the presidential primary during election years.
Youngkin did, however, sign a landmark campaign finance reform bill that passed with bipartisan support. H.B. 2165 bans personal use of campaign funds.
Youngkin has supported numerous policies attacking LGBTQ+ students under the guise of so-called “parents’ rights” in education. His policies for trans youth in schools include the forced misgendering or deadnaming of kids who don’t have parents’ permission, allowing youth to “opt-out” of being near trans kids in gendered spaces, and forced outing of trans kids to their parents.
In an October 2021 interview with the Associated Press, Youngkin said he didn’t personally support same-sex marriage. In 2024, however, he signed a bill codifying same-sex marriage in the Commonwealth.
The U.S. State Department has issued a memo stating that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program to prevent HIV in low- and middle-income foreign countries, can only offer HIV-preventing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications to pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBFW) rather than to LGBTQ+ people, sex workers and other groups at high-risk for contracting HIV.
The memo circulated by the State Department’s Global Health Security and Diplomacy program states, “People other than PBFW who may be at high risk of HIV infection or were previously initiated on a PrEP option cannot be offered PEPFAR-funded PrEP during this pause of U.S. Foreign Assistance or until further notice.”
The “pause” mentioned in the memo refers to a 90-day hold on all foreign aid issued by President Donald Trump’s executive order on “reevaluatig and realigning” U.S. foreign aid. The State Department added that Trump’s order is “rooting out waste” and “blocking woke programs” to ensure that funding only benefits efforts “fully aligned” with Trump’s foreign policy.
“We are outraged by the Trump Administration’s puritanical distribution of life-saving medication that brazenly discriminates against anyone not having sex exclusively for procreation,” said Wayne Besen, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Truth Wins Out. “This… could cruelly lead to the infection, and eventual death, of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
“There is no other explanation for these guidelines other than cruel, vindictive behavior meant to cause pain and suffering to vulnerable communities disfavored by President Trump’s right-wing base,” Besen continued, adding, “Aren’t conservatives supposed to be pro-life, or do they only care about ‘life’ for those who are just like them?”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a waiver for lifesaving medicines and medical services affected by the pause, but his memo explained that PEPFAR funds will be restricted in various ways. In addition to denying PrEP medications to all but PBFW, Rubio’s restrictions also prohibit surveys and systems tracking the spread of HIV and child abuse in regional populations, as well as any projects scheduled beyond December 31 of this year.
As a result, the program’s HIV-prevention drugs are reportedly still not reaching their intended recipients, many clinics have ceased offering services, and healthcare workers haven’t been paid, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) reported. These all increase the likelihood of rising HIV rates, outbreaks, and HIV-related deaths abroad, KFF and Besen said.
The freeze and restrictions on PEPFAR funding have coincided with the dismantling of USAID – the independent U.S. international development agency that implements most U.S. global health programs – by Trump’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE, which is not an official federal department created through required congressional approval, is headed by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
Musk has made the elimination of the agency a top DOGE priority, stating, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die,” without citing any evidence. Although USAID is the primary source of funding for HIV/AIDS relief for over 25 million people in 54 countries, the agency’s website has since been disabled.
A large portion of USAID’s personnel have been furloughed or fired; PEPFAR recipients have been left with no way to reach longtime contacts or access guidance. The Trump administration announced its intention to remove almost all USAID workers from their jobs and out of the field worldwide. Rubio said recipient organizations would have to apply for waivers to restart the funding.
Opponents have called Trump and Musk’s actions against PEPFAR and USAID illegal and unconstitutional. Lawsuits against the dismantling of the agency have been filed by USAID contractors – who say that the Trump administration owes them millions in unpaid bills that had been pledged in the last congressional budget – and also by a pair of nonprofit organizations, including the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), an HIV-prevention nonprofit.
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