A Catholic Hospital is being sued after refusing a transgender man hysterectomy, citing religious reasons.
Jionni Conforti needed a hysterectomy procedure as part of his gender transition. However the surgeon who was to perform the operation was not allowed by the Catholic hospital in New Jersey.
Conforti was scheduled to have the operation at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in 2015. According to him, the surgery to remove his uterus was not performed because of the administration's refusal.
Jionni later underwent the operation to remove the uterus elsewhere. According to Jionni, the hospital's refusal to perform the procedure humiliated him. According to him, a hospital is a place where one should feel safe and taken care of. He felt that he was completely disrespected as a person.
He further stated that there is a high rate of suicide incidence in the LGBT community and this experience left him struggling with depression as reported in The Blaze
The hospital announced on Thursday it follows ethical and religious practices in making decisions regarding care and treatment in accordance to directives from the U.S. Conference of Bishops.
According to the directives from the conference, procedures deemed to be morally wrong by the church do not have to be performed. Transgender man hysterectomy is deemed not morally sound by the hospital.
The lawsuit comes after a Texas federal judge halts a new transgender rights regulation by the U.S. Health and Human Services Regulation which was set to take effect on January 1. The regulation was to bar discrimination against transgenders by insurers, hospitals and doctors.
Lambda Legal, a nonprofit firm who represents Conforti, said that a nurse in charge of surgery stated that the surgery could be scheduled but his doctor was told that the procedure will not be allowed because it was a gender reassignment operation according to an article by LGBTQ Nation.
