A Catholic hospital may have violated state anti-discrimination law by refusing to perform a transgender individual’s surgery, even though the hospital referred the patient elsewhere, a court ruled Wednesday.
Mercy San Juan Medical Center is a not-for-profit Catholic hospital in the Sacramento, Calif., area. Evan Minton, who was born a female but now identifies as a man, was scheduled to have a hysterectomy at the hospital in 2016 when medical officials learned Minton is transgender. The surgery was part of Minton’s full sex-reassignment transition.
Because it is Catholic, Mercy San Juan only performs hysterectomies if the patient’s life or health is threatened. The hospital rescheduled the surgery at a non-Catholic hospital.
On Wednesday, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco reinstated Minton’s lawsuit, which had been tossed out by a lower court. The ACLU had sued on Minton’s behalf, claiming Mercy San Juan’s decision was “sex discrimination in violation of California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act,” according to KCRA-TV.
“The Unruh Act promises full and equal access to public accommodations, yet Dignity Health refuses to provide necessary care to transgender patients,” said Elizabeth Gill, an attorney with the ACLU of Northern California.
Mercy San Juan contacted Minton two days prior to the…
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