Transgender man is suing hospital after hysterectomy is canceled because it conflicted with the Maryland hospital’s Catholic beliefs
- Jesse Hammons is suing the University of Maryland for refusing a hysterectomy
- Lawsuit alleges they cancelled because it ‘conflicted with the hospital’s beliefs’
- St Joseph’s Medical Center has been a Catholic institution for over 100 years
A transgender man is suing a Maryland hospital after his hysterectomy was cancelled because it conflicted with the hospital’s Catholic beliefs.
Jesse Hammons, who is suing the University of Maryland in a federal court, was scheduled to have the procedure in January but the hospital cancelled the procedure around a week prior because it ‘conflicted with the hospital’s Catholic beliefs’.
Hammons has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a distress felt by people whose sex assigned at birth does not match their gender identity. The procedure, was therefore deemed medically necessary, the lawsuit says.
Pictured: Jesse Hammon, who is suing the University of Maryland for breaches of the first and 14th Amendments and the Affordable Care Act’s ban on sex discrimination in healthcare, for cancelling his hysterectomy in January
‘Defendants canceled the surgery based on a discriminatory and unconstitutional application of Catholic religious doctrine,’ the suit, seen by MSN, states.
‘When they canceled Mr. Hammons’ medically necessary surgery, Defendants thus treated Mr. Hammons — as a man who is transgender — differently from non-transgender patients who require medically necessary hysterectomies for other medical conditions.’
The lawsuit alleges that the St Joseph Medical Center, which has always been a Catholic institution, is in breach of the first and 14th Amendments, as well as the Affordable Care Act’s ban on sex discrimination in health care.
Jesse Hammons, who is suing the University of Maryland in a federal court, was scheduled to have the procedure in January but the hospital cancelled the procedure around a week prior because it ‘conflicted with the hospital’s Catholic beliefs’
The University of Maryland Medical System acquired St Joseph’s in 2012 and the hospital said it would hold on the Catholic identity of the Center, which means that procedures like abortion, euthanasia and sex-assignment surgeries are barred.
Michael Schwartzberg, director of communications for the University of Maryland Medical System, told NBC News in an email: ‘UMMS is a privately-held corporation (since 1984), and SJMC is a privately-held, not-for-profit hospital, and SJMC is mandated to abide by the ERDs’.
‘All physicians and advanced practitioners seeking privileges at UM SJMC agree to abide by the ERDs prior to the granting of privileges,’ Schwartzberg added.