Roger Severino

Roger Severino is an American attorney who was serving as the director of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Roger Severino
Director of the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights
In office
January 2017 – January 15, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
SecretaryTom Price
Alex Azar
Succeeded byRobinsue Frohboese
Personal details
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Carrie Severino
EducationUniversity of Southern California (BBA)
Carnegie Mellon University (MPP)
Harvard University (JD)

Early life and education

Severino, the son of immigrants from Colombia, was raised in Los Angeles.[1][2] He received a bachelor’s degree in business from University of Southern California, a Master of Public Administration from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.[3]

Career

From 2008 to 2015, Severino was a trial attorney in the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Severino was also previously CEO and counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law firm taking on cases related to freedom of religion. In 2015, Severino joined The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank geared towards public policy. There, he served as the Director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation.[3]

Gender rights

In March 2017, Severino was appointed as Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by President Donald Trump.[4][5][6]

A social conservative and devout Catholic, Severino has often been criticized for being anti-LGBT.[7][4][5] The Human Rights Campaign has described Severino as a "radical anti-LGBTQ activist."[8] In 2018, Severino called the Obama administration's expansion of sex to include gender identity "radical gender ideology."[9][10] In an op-ed co-written by former U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, Severino said that "transgender rights supporters see sex as 'merely a placeholder’ assigned at birth."[11]

Severino has written several opinion columns for The Daily Signal. Severino has also written for Public Discourse: Ethics, Law, and the Common Good, a journal published by Witherspoon Institute, a conservative think-tank.[12]

As director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights, Severino was instrumental in the removal of nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people established in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The removal of the provision will allow healthcare providers to deny care based on a patient's sexuality or gender identity.[13][14]

Personal life

Severino is married to Carrie Severino (née Campbell), an attorney and activist. Carrie worked as chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network until her appointment as leader of the organization in 2014.[5][15][16]

See also

References
  1. "Civil Rights Chief At HHS Defends The Right To Refuse Care On Religious Grounds". NPR.org.
  2. "'It should be treated just like every other civil right': Top Trump health official looks to enshrine religious liberty". Washington Examiner. September 26, 2019.
  3. "OCR Leadership". U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  4. Brinlee, Morgan (March 27, 2017). "Who Is Roger Severino? Donald Trump's New Appointment Sparks Concern Among LGBTQ Activists". Bustle. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  5. Green, Emma (June 7, 2017). "The Man Behind Trump's Religious-Freedom Agenda for Health Care". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  6. Diamond, Dan. "The religious activists on the rise inside Trump's health department". POLITICO.
  7. Green, Emma (2017-06-07). "The Man Behind Trump's Religious-Freedom Agenda for Health Care". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  8. McBride, Brian (March 24, 2017). "Trump Appoints Radical Anti-LGBTQ Activist to Lead HHS Civil Rights Office". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  9. Green, Erica L.; Benner, Katie; Pear, Robert (2018-10-21). "'Transgender' Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  10. "Roger Severino, Author at The Daily Signal". The Daily Signal. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  11. "Roger Severino | GLAAD". www.glaad.org. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  12. "Roger Severino". Public Discourse. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  13. Simmons-Duffin, Selena (June 12, 2020). "Transgender Health Protections Reversed By Trump Administration". NPR News. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  14. Sanger-Katz, Margot; Weiland, Noah (2020-06-12). "Trump Administration Erases Transgender Civil Rights Protections in Health Care". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  15. Diamond, Dan. "The religious activists on the rise inside Trump's health department". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  16. "About". judicialnetwork.com. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
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