Republican state AGs seek to clarify stance on disability law.
SC Attorney General Alan Wilson said the lawsuit never intended to take away protections entirely. He expects Trump’s position will make the case go away.
Amid a public backlash over the potential loss of disability protections, 17 Republican state attorneys general submitted a new court filing last week to clarify their position in a lawsuit that seeks to strike down part of a federal law that safeguards disabled people from discrimination.
The lawsuit, filed in September, targets the Biden administration’s addition of a gender identity-related disorder to the disabilities protected under a portion of federal law known as Section 504.
The AGs, in a joint status report filed with a U.S. District Court in Texas, clarified that they don’t want the lawsuit to take away Section 504 accommodations for people with disabilities.
“We’ve been saying all along that there was never any intention to take away 504 accommodations, and this court filing confirms that,” South Carolina Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement Thursday.
“We never asked the court to throw out Section 504 entirely. We were challenging the Biden administration trying to force states to adopt woke gender ideology by trying to attach it to Section 504 as a condition for federal funding,” he continued.
In recent weeks, the AGs have faced a growing public outcry stemming from conflicting messages about what the lawsuit would do.
The provision in question, Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, prohibits entities that receive federal funding from discriminating based on disability. For example, the law prohibits hospitals from denying organ transplants to people because they have a disability. It requires schools to allow deaf students to use speech-to-text technology. The law covers a wide range of disabilities, including vision and hearing impairments, autism, diabetes, Down syndrome, dyslexia and ADHD.
Last May, the Biden administration issued a rule that added to the covered disabilities “gender dysphoria,” the psychological distress that people may experience when their gender identity doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth. Gender dysphoria is defined in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
National disability rights groups, advocates and experts have pointed to parts of the lawsuit in which the AGs ask the court to find the entirety of Section 504 unconstitutional. They fear that if the court agrees, the law’s discrimination protections for all people with disabilities could vanish.
Arkansas Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin, Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr and others issued public statements in recent weeks adamantly denying that interpretation. Griffin has said that if the states win the lawsuit, “regulations would go back to what they were” before the gender identity-related disorder was added.
“Plaintiffs clarify that they have never moved — and do not plan to move — to declare or enjoin Section 504 … as unconstitutional on its face,” the new joint status report reads.
The lawsuit is currently on hold. The parties in the case agreed to pause litigation shortly after President Donald Trump took office, while his administration reevaluates the federal government’s position. A spokesperson for Carr told Stateline in an email that they expect the Trump administration to reverse the Biden rule, which could cause the lawsuit to be dropped.
Before last week’s filing, Wilson said Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order stating that “it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female” resolved his concerns. “Our mission is complete,” Wilson said.
In his latest statement, Wilson said he expects the lawsuit to go away entirely.
Anna Claire Vollers covers health care for Stateline. She is based in Huntsville, Alabama.
The Backlash here.
Also, AG related:
AG Wilson denies Rep. Mace’s floor allegations of ignoring sexual assault claims
BY: SHAUN CHORNOBROFF - FEBRUARY 27, 2025 7:00 AM
WEST COLUMBIA — South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson vehemently denied accusations that U.S. Rep Nancy Mace lobbed against him in a bombshell House floor speech earlier this month.
The 1st District congresswoman alleged the attorney general ignored evidence of sexual assault against her and other women.
“That allegation was never made to me — no one in my office,” Wilson said Wednesday at an event hosted by The Post and Courier at Savage Craft Ale Works.
While he categorically denied her allegations, he declined to say Mace’s name.
“I’m just not going to engage,” he said when asked why he wasn’t referring to her by name. “I’m not trying to politicize this.”
Mace launched the attacks Feb. 10 as part of an hour-long speech that accused four men, including her ex-fiancé, of a litany of sexual crimes. Mace said she was among the victims. Following the speech, the State Law Enforcement Division released a statement that it opened an investigation in December 2023 after being contacted by U.S. Capitol police.
“Anytime someone makes allegations that they are a victim of a crime, those allegations should be taken seriously,” Wilson said. “They should be investigated thoroughly by law enforcement, and they should be treated with the utmost respect.”
Wilson and Mace are two of the potential frontrunners in the 2026 governor’s race. Both have said they are considering running but have yet to announce a decision.
Wilson said Wednesday he will make a decision “sometime later in the year.”
Lt. Gov Pam Evette, as well as state Sens. Josh Kimbrell of Boiling Springs and Sean Bennett of Summerville, have also said they are considering a bid to succeed Gov. Henry McMaster.
During her House speech, Mace had a poster of Wilson that read “Do-Nothing Attorney General” — a moniker she has repeatedly used to describe him — as she accused him of failing to take action after turning over evidence of sexual assault.
After the speech, his office released a lengthy statement denying the allegations.
In his appearance Wednesday before dozens of attendees, he continued to deny them. He estimated that he’s seen Mace five times since last summer and that she had never mentioned the sexual assault allegations.
The attorney general said that after he received an advanced copy of Mace’s speech, he asked his staff to research whether anyone in his office had been contacted about the abuse allegations. The search turned up no results.
“The last thing I want to know is that we were alerted to something and weren’t acting on it,” he said.
Shaun covers the state legislature for the South Carolina Daily Gazette.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
