UM St. Joseph Medical Center considers options after transgender ruling

The University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center is weighing its options after a federal court ruled Jan. 6 that the Towson hospital violated the Affordable Care Act when it denied a transgender person a hysterectomy as part of “gender-affirming care.”

The hospital declined in 2020 to perform a hysterectomy on Jesse Hammons, prompting a suit “claiming sex discrimination in defendants’ refusal to allow him to have a hysterectomy performed at their hospital to treat his gender dysphoria.”

In a statement released by Senior Director of Media Relations Michael Schwartzberg, the medical center said it disputes “legal points” in the ruling by Judge Deborah Chasanow and that the canceled surgery was due to a surgeon “mistakenly scheduling a procedure that could not be performed at UM SJMC.”

Although it has been owned by the secular University of Maryland Medical System since 2012, St. Joseph operates as a Catholic hospital and follows the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

The hospital was founded in 1864 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia and moved to its current Towson location in 1965. 

“The University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center and the University of Maryland Medical System are carefully reviewing the decision from Judge Chasanow,” the medical system said in a written statement. “We dispute many of the conclusions that were reached in this decision and may be in a position to comment further after additional analysis of the ruling.”

The statement said “we sincerely wish the very best for Mr. Hammons and we support his efforts to seek the highest quality healthcare. We may disagree on certain technical, legal points but compassion for the patients we serve remains foundational to our work.”

The statement said the legal claim “stems directly from, and is traceable to, a surgeon mistakenly scheduling a procedure that could not be performed at UM SJMC. Although our offer to perform gender-affirming surgery at a different location was declined by Mr. Hammons, the University of Maryland Medical System remains committed to meeting the unique medical needs of transgender individuals and patients who are routinely scheduled by physicians for appointments and procedures at UMMS member organizations.”

Schwartzberg declined further comment.

Dr. Marie-Alberte Borsiquot, past president of the national Catholic Medical Association, the largest national association of Catholics in health care, said the court ruling was a “gross” violation of an ethical and religious directive that guides the moral practices of Catholic health-care workers. She said she hoped and thought UMMS would appeal.

“Obviously, we’re very disappointed and very concerned with the ruling,” said Borsiquot, an internist practicing in Howard County and a parishioner of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. “What this says is that a government can overrun your conscience.

“We feel very badly for our transgender brothers and sisters,” Borsiquot said. “They are suffering from an emotional problem. This is not the way to help them, by mutilating their bodies. We need to show them our love and support by helping them work through their emotional problems, not perform an unnecessary surgery.”

The ACLU supported the suit as part of its LGBTQ & HIV Project. 

“We’re thankful the court saw through a transparently discriminatory and harmful action by UMMS,” said Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, in a media release. “The government has no business operating a religious hospital, much less do they have the right to deny transgender patients care they routinely provide to cisgender patients.”

According to the suit, Hammons was scheduled for the procedure as part of “gender-affirming care.” The surgery was canceled by the medical center and Hammonds had it performed at another facility.

“This is a great win for myself and all transgender people denied equal treatment because of who they are,” Hammons said in a statement released by the ACLU. “All I wanted was for UMMS to treat my health care like anyone else’s, and I’m glad the court recognized how unfair it was to turn me away. I’m hopeful UMMS can change this harmful policy and help more transgender people access the care they need.”

Boursiquot, noting that the Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of health care in the nation, doesn’t agree.

“We, as Catholics, ascribe to a Judeo-Christian/biblical view of the human person.  Every male and female is created in the image and likeness of God,” she wrote in an email to the Catholic Review. “Performing a hysterectomy on a non-diseased organ is a clear violation of a woman’s bodily integrity and essentially a mutilation of the woman’s body. Our gender-confused brothers and sisters are emotionally suffering and deserve to be treated psychologically/psychiatrically with compassion and understanding while respecting their human dignity.”

Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org

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