BALTIMORE — A federal court ruled on Jan. 6 that the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center violated the Affordable Care Act when it denied service to Jesse Hammons, a transgender man.
He went in for a commonly-performed medical procedure because the procedure was for gender-affirming care.
The government owned hospital claims that providing Hammons with medical care would be a violation of their religious beliefs.
"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," said Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBTQ & HIV Project.
Hammons was scheduled to undergo a medically necessary hysterectomy at the medical center as part of his gender-affirming care plan.
According to documents, a week before the surgery was set to happen, the medical center told informed Hammons that the surgery had to be cancelled because it violated the center's Catholic beliefs.
In filing for Hammons, the court found that "with the exception of procedures sought by transgender patients to treat dysmorphia," the hospital "will perform any hysterectomy so long as it is consistent with the standard of care for a given diagnosis.”
The University of Maryland Medical System said this in regards to the court's ruling.
“The University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center and the University of Maryland Medical System are carefully reviewing the decision from Judge Chasanow. 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. Legal disagreements aside, 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. This 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.”
