The Biden administration is appealing a federal judge’s ruling affirming that religious hospitals should not be required to perform gender transition surgeries in violation of their deeply held beliefs.
In January, U.S. District Court Judge Peter Welte cited the Religious Freedom Restoration Act when he ruled in favor of Sisters of Mercy, an order of nuns committed to providing medical care to people in need. The Biden administration wants to see this ruling overturned and has filed an appeal in hopes of forcing religious hospitals to comply with the transgender agenda. Recently appointed HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra is leading the charge.
Contrary to the claims of LGBT activists, this case is not about a “right to discriminate” but a right to operate in accordance with deeply held religious beliefs. Luke Goodrich, Vice President and senior counsel at Becket Law, writes,
The plaintiffs are religious doctors, hospitals, and clinics who joyfully serve ALL patients regardless of sex or gender identity. They routinely provide top-notch care to transgender patients for everything from cancer to the common cold. They also provide millions of dollars in free and low-cost care to the elderly, poor, and underserved—care that is jeopardized by the government’s attempt to punish them with multi-million dollar penalties.
It is unacceptable to target religious hospitals and attempting to force them to violate their beliefs. As Goodrich points out, the plaintiffs are happy to provide quality care to any patient. However, Catholic teaching prohibits removing or mutilating a healthy, functioning organ or performing medically unnecessary procedures that sterilize a patient. Gender “transition” surgeries do both of these things.
This is not only an attack on religious freedom but on medical ethics. At the heart of medical ethics is a commitment to “first, do no harm.” The so-called “treatments” that the transgender lobby argues for are risky, invasive, and have very little evidence backing them up. Studies claiming that gender transition improves mental health outcomes are riddled with errors and more rigorous studies paint a very different picture. The long-term physical effects are no better. In addition to removing and mutilating healthy body parts, these “treatments” increase the risk of heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms, can cause bone damage, liver damage, and bladder damage.
The government has no business mandating that medical professionals perform risky, experimental treatments, and it especially wrong for the government to attack people of faith who want to live and act in accordance with their religious beliefs. By appealing this ruling, the Biden administration is launching an attack on religious freedom and on ethical healthcare.
(Image: Jonathan Borba, Unsplash)
