Catholic Hospitals are Regressing LGBTQ Rights

Catholic hospitals are regressing when it comes to LGBTQ rights. There’s an entire section in the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) that’s dedicated to protecting the rights of LGBTQ people. This section bans healthcare providers from discriminating against others based on sex. Federal judge just ruled he cannot force networks to comply with procedures that violate their religious beliefs, including performing abortions or gender-affirming surgeries. 

A Texan judge ruled that Obamacare “forces Christian plaintiffs to face civil penalties or to perform gender-transition procedures and abortions contrary to their religious beliefs,” which he called “a quintessential irreparable injury,” says Reed O’Connor, George W. Bush appointee. 

A network of Catholic hospitals called The Franciscan Alliance said their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) were being violated. They then sued, saying they would be forced to provide abortions and “gender transition procedures.”

However, Judge O’Connor ruled this without any hospitals actually being forced to perform these procedures. It was brought on the premise of the mere possibility of this happening someday, not that someone filed a complaint accusing The Franciscan Alliance of discrimination.

Although the lawsuit was how the Obama and Biden administration interpreted the section O’Connor ruled in Franciscan Alliance v. Burwell,  Section 1557 cannot be forced upon the Franciscan Alliance. He then issued a permanent injunction that blocks the entire provision. 

Judge O’Connors decision allows the Franciscan Alliance to discriminate against anyone due to their religious beliefs on the basis of sex. Franciscan Alliance in a statement vowed to not use their religious exemptions to turn LGBTQ patients away from their services. 

Vice president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit represented by the Franciscan Alliance, Luke Goodrich, says, “These religious doctors and hospitals joyfully serve all patients and routinely provide top-notch care to transgender patients.” 

“Screening patients based on religious doctrine and turning away transgender patients seeking necessary gender-confirming care or reproductive healthcare” is what the ACLU claims hospitals could require in the future.