Transgender man: Catholic hospital denied my hysterectomy

[80zephyr]

I have mentioned that society, under penalty of law, is forced to go along with delusion. If this guy wins, it means that we have to abide by his wishes, and not reality.

A transgender man sued a Roman Catholic hospital on Thursday, saying it cited religion in refusing to allow his surgeon to perform a hysterectomy as part of his sex transition.

Jionni Conforti's sex and gender discrimination lawsuit comes as new regulations hailed as groundbreaking anti-discrimination protections for transgender people are under legal attack from religious groups.

Conforti had scheduled the surgery at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson in 2015. He says a hospital administrator told him the procedure to remove his uterus couldn't be done because it was a "Catholic hospital."

"I felt completely disrespected," said Conforti, whose transition began in 2004. "That's not how any hospital should treat any person regardless of who they are."

The hospital said Thursday it follows ethical and religious directives from the U.S. Conference of Bishops in making decisions about care and treatment. The directives say procedures judged "morally wrong" by the church don't have to be performed.

The lawsuit comes less than a week after a federal judge in Texas ordered a halt to new U.S. Health and Human Services regulations that had been set to go into effect Jan. 1 to bar certain forms of transgender discrimination

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/usworld/ap/transgender-man-says-surgery-denied-at-catholic-hospital/article_33d19849-35c1-591c-b4ad-5be322361c02.html

Mark

[scott]

Funny how he refuses to just use another hospital. He has to have the surgery done in a Catholic hospital. I smell astroturf.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

This is actually part of a much bigger issue with Catholic hospitals, which make up an incredible proportion of the available healthcare facilities in the US. Leaving entirely aside the abortion issue, women in communities where the only hospital is owned by the Catholic hospital system are being denied health care options at a medical facility that serves the general public.

[scott]

This is actually part of a much bigger issue with Catholic hospitals, which make up an incredible proportion of the available healthcare facilities in the US. Leaving entirely aside the abortion issue, women in communities where the only hospital is owned by the Catholic hospital system are being denied health care options at a medical facility that serves the general public.

So they should be forced to not do their ministry because nobody else is willing to step up? That's not religious freedom. We're talking about non-profit operations (money losing actually) that are there and now they have to be forced to not treat it like the ministry it is?

What next, Muslims being forced to sell pork for a loss at their public cookouts?

[Norm dePlume]

Funny how he refuses to just use another hospital. He has to have the surgery done in a Catholic hospital. I smell astroturf.

Amusingly, they would have to relocate the surgery to Hackensack.

On edit: It turns out they actually did the surgery in Montclair, which is slightly further away and not funny at all.

[Djharkavy]

I'm surprised that a Catholic hospital would be involved in transgender surgery at all.

Sent from my phone, using Tapatalk.
All mistakes are caused by the phone.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

[scott]

Amusingly, they would have to relocate the surgery to Hackensack.

On edit: It turns out they actually did the surgery in Montclair, which is slightly further away and not funny at all.

All of 14 minutes.

https://goo.gl/maps/pmpd73bfipn

[Norm dePlume]

All of 14 minutes.

https://goo.gl/maps/pmpd73bfipn

I don't think travel time is the only issue. From my reading of this article, the patient was seeing his own doctor, who connected him with a surgeon, who had admitting privileges at St. Joseph's and that's why he initially scheduled it there. When the surgery was relocated, they also changed surgeons. It could be the original surgeon didn't bother getting admitting privileges at hospitals in other cities around the area.

Conforti, in an interview at his home, said Medicaid approved the surgery and that both his surgeon and a surgical nurse at St. Joseph’s told him there would be no problem. He said he was “humiliated” when St. Joseph’s refused to allow it, and that he then went to another surgeon and had the procedure done at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair in late 2015.

[phillygirl]

So they should be forced to not do their ministry because nobody else is willing to step up? That's not religious freedom. We're talking about non-profit operations (money losing actually) that are there and now they have to be forced to not treat it like the ministry it is?

What next, Muslims being forced to sell pork for a loss at their public cookouts?

This is constantly an issue. Catholics are very good at providing services to help people. The general public, however, demands that the Catholic Church do so in a secular way, and then bemoan the fact that when the Catholic entity is forced to either abandon their core beliefs, or shut down due to governmental intervention, the Catholic Church doesn't care about the community. Yet no other groups are stepping up to fill in those gaps.

I took a a fair amount of ethics courses in college. The Catholic hospitals take this very seriously, and the boards they fill are no nonsense. Many of my professors and the Jesuits lent their time to the hospital ethics boards to help make sure they were doing right by the patient in accordance with their moral and ethical guidelines. Some of these cases are so gray it's a very tough decision. But they weren't made without a lot of thought and conscience searching.

[scott]

I don't think travel time is the only issue. From my reading of this article, the patient was seeing his own doctor, who connected him with a surgeon, who had admitting privileges at St. Joseph's and that's why he initially scheduled it there. When the surgery was relocated, they also changed surgeons. It could be the original surgeon didn't bother getting admitting privileges at hospitals in other cities around the area.

So why the lawsuit again? Because he had to switch hospitals? This is just silly.

[Norm dePlume]

It's not just an issue of the hospital providing services. In this case, it appears to be an issue of the hospital not allowing their facility to be used by a non-resident surgeon to provide a service.

It's like a store that not only refuses to sell cigarettes -- they also don't let you smoke your own in their parking lot.

[Norm dePlume]

So why the lawsuit again? Because he had to switch hospitals? This is just silly.

And surgeons.

[scott]

This is constantly an issue. Catholics are very good at providing services to help people. The general public, however, demands that the Catholic Church do so in a secular way, and then bemoan the fact that when the Catholic entity is forced to either abandon their core beliefs, or shut down due to governmental intervention, the Catholic Church doesn't care about the community. Yet no other groups are stepping up to fill in those gaps.

I took a a fair amount of ethics courses in college. The Catholic hospitals take this very seriously, and the boards they fill are no nonsense. Many of my professors and the Jesuits lent their time to the hospital ethics boards to help make sure they were doing right by the patient in accordance with their moral and ethical guidelines. Some of these cases are so gray it's a very tough decision. But they weren't made without a lot of thought and conscience searching.

Exactly.

"Our faith compels us to help without preaching, just good, honest, moral assistance."

"You're doing it wrong, you need to keep your faith out of this."

"But then there's no reason to do this."

"Do what we want or show that you don't care about people and you're evil."

"Oh look, people over there need help so we'll just move."

"Hypocrites!"

[Celeste Chalfonte]

So they should be forced to not do their ministry because nobody else is willing to step up? That's not religious freedom. We're talking about non-profit operations (money losing actually) that are there and now they have to be forced to not treat it like the ministry it is?

What next, Muslims being forced to sell pork for a loss at their public cookouts?

Did I say that? I said it's a problem. I didn't prescribe a solution. Other than a complete overhaul of the public health system, I'm not sure how we make quality healthcare available in underserved areas.

I suspect that going back to offering tuition remission for medical and nursing students to make a commitment of x years of working in public health facilities and/or providing low-cost care in underserved communities would help, but it wouldn't build hospitals.

Yes, I have a problem with a woman going to the only emergency room in town and not being offered emergency contraception after being raped. Catholic hospitals do not hire only Catholic doctors, nurses and social workers. Someone on staff could provide those services without getting crosswise with his/her conscience.

Where there is a choice of facilities, I simply think that Catholic facilities should be upfront with people about what they do not offer. Not every patient is aware of the limitations on Catholic healthcare, and apparently some doctors aren't either. If my Jewish OB/GYN is affiliated with Holy Cross Hospital (as the one I had in Maryland was) and we plan to do a tubal ligation after my 3rd child is born, I want to know right at the outset that he can't do that at Holy Cross, because if that's the only affiliation he has, either he needs to affiliate with another hospital ASAP, or I need a new OB/GYN. But if I, a non-Catholic live in a remote area where the only hospital is a Catholic hospital, and my non-Catholic doctor is willing to do the tubal ligation and there are non-Catholic nurses and other surgical personnel who are willing to assist, there should be some way I can get the care my doctor and I have decided is best for me without having to go hundreds of miles away to an unfamiliar doctor.

To use your analogy, if Nation of Islam operates the only hospital in town, should they be able to refuse you treatment because you're white?

[gary m]

It's not just an issue of the hospital providing services. In this case, it appears to be an issue of the hospital not allowing their facility to be used by a non-resident surgeon to provide a service.

Sounds like a good business opportunity for you.
Gather some friends and a few hundred million dollars and open up your own hospital.
You can even declare it a non-profit, since you probably won't make any money at it anyway.