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Trans Man Sues Hospital For Refusing To Perform Surgery On Religious Grounds

“A hospital is a place where you should feel safe and taken care of.”

A transgender man is suing a New Jersey hospital for refusing to perform a hysterectomy on him on religious grounds.

Last year Jionni Conforti, 31, had scheduled the procedure, part of his transition process, at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, in Paterson. But at the last minute, administrators canceled the operation, claiming in an email that they couldn't perform it because St. Joseph's was a "Catholic hospital."

“Being humiliated and rejected by a hospital because of who you are as a person is not okay,” Conforti told Time.

A lawsuit filed by Lambda Legal claims that Conforti's primary care physician and therapist recommended the procedure to treat his gender dysphoria, and to address "a possible link between Jionni’s hormone therapy and certain reproductive system cancers."

“A hospital is a place where you should feel safe and taken care of,” Conforti told the AP, "Instead, I felt like I was rejected and humiliated."

St. Joseph's "patients' bill of rights", posted on its website, guarantees service free of discrimination based on "sexual preference, gender identity or expression," among other categories.

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It took Conforti three months to find another hospital that would perform his hysterectomy, and his suit alleges he became depressed. He remains anxious at the prospect of receiving any medical treatment at St. Joseph's, which is the closest hospital to his home.

Federal judges have repeatedly ruled in favor of allowing discrimination against LGBT people based on "religious freedom." Earlier this week, a federal judge in Texas ruled doctors and hospitals could turn away transgender patients on religious grounds.

Twenty states have now passed their own "religious freedom" laws, which have been used to restrict abortion access, deny women birth control, discriminate against gay couples, and deny trans people access to the healthcare they need.

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