By: Evelyn Kowalski
Staff-Writer
Section 504 is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that prohibits discrimination based upon disability. This helps the needs of students with disabilities be met as adequately as the needs of non-disabled students. Unlike Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), 504 plans do not provide for specialized instruction, but instead focus on accommodating disabled students to help them access the general education curriculum, such as providing an interpreter for a Deaf student.
Section 504 also protects disabled people from discrimination based on their disability in other contexts, including any organizations that receive federal funding, like nursing homes, hospitals, employers and more.
Over the past 50 years, this section has helped many disabled students attend school and minimize educational disparities with their peers. However, 17 states are currently suing the U.S. government to end Section 504. Sixteen states, including Indiana, have joined Texas in a lawsuit asking the court to declare Section 504 unconstitutional and overturn it entirely.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration in September 2024, saying that it was “abusing executive action” to sidestep the law. The state was suing, Paxton said, “because HHS has no authority to unilaterally rewrite statutory definitions and classify ‘gender dysphoria’ as a disability.”
The lawsuit came after the Department of Health and Human Services announced that people with gender dysphoria were required to receive protections from Section 504 in May 2024. Other protections in Section 504 were strengthened in 2024, including accessibility standards for medical treatment and digital content.
If the courts rule in favor of the states, disabled students and others with disabilities will lose Section 504 protections unless they live in a state that chooses to continue enforcing the nondiscrimination rules.
The threat to Section 504 comes at a time when other programs serving many disabled people, including the Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grants and Medicaid also face cuts or challenges to their operations.
Currently, the lawsuit is suspended because of the change in administration and for review of the 2024 changes to Section 504. The Supreme Court received arguments and briefs for the case on Feb. 25, which will be reviewed before a ruling is issued.