St. Joseph Medical Center in Baltimore violated Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (the anti-discrimination provision of Obamacare) by refusing to perform a gender transition surgery in 2020, ruled a federal judge in the District Court of Maryland on Friday.
Judge Deborah Chasanow reasoned in Hammons v. UMMS that the Catholic hospital system discriminated against a transgender-identifying woman by cancelling a surgery to remove her uterus once they learned that it was for gender dysphoria. “Defendants necessarily and intentionally relied on sex in creating and enforcing a policy that prohibits treatment if a patient’s medical need for that treatment is an incongruence between the patient’s gender identity and sex assigned at birth,” said the Clinton-appointed judge.
The opinion comes months after two circuit courts — the 8th Circuit and 5th Circuit — had ruled that Obamacare’s Section 1557 did not require Catholic hospital systems to perform gender transition procedures. However, several unusual facts could distinguish this ruling from those contrary decisions. The left-leaning 4th Circuit would hear any appeal from the District Court of Maryland.
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