comment: >
context: Six Supreme Court justices are sliding down poles as we speak, Bibles in hand, to protect doctors' right not to treat patients. >
  
  I was gonna say they're drafting their opinion right now so as not to waste any time. >
  
  its weird how much people hate people that have literally zero impact on their lives. >
  
  And it’s beyond infuriating that largely the same crowd believe that an evil snake, a cursed apple, a magic boat, and a talking shrubbery have a huge impact on their lives. >
  
  I dont think that demographic is as large as you think it is compared to the other demographics that feel the same >
  
  It's at least 30% and that's just enough to sway a vote. Hopefully it continues to drop. >
  
  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops shouldn’t have any access to or any regulatory authority of any kind over any medical facility. >
  
  I’ve lived with end stage kidney failure for 20 years and all I have to say is thank God for the Affordable Care Act >
  
  I hope you are doing better and are not in too much discomfort. I am glad that you had access to the ACA too. >
  
  Thanks! I’m doing well as long as this transplant holds out. Dialysis was horrible. It’s been the majority of my life now, and frankly I have a pretty decent life. Not perfect but very decent. >
  
  How does a healthcare provider deny healthcare to anyone in need. Why did they even join the profession? I work at ford, should I start only working on red 4x4 superdutys? Wt actual fuck is wrong with these people. >
  
  Also, lack of funds. Good luck getting care in the US if you can't pay for it. You can be seen in the ER sure, but if they find a serious issue, you can't follow up on it unless you can afford the doctors and the treatment. >
  
  Very right, but that’s not the doctors purposefully denying service to someone because the doctor is a bigot, which is the main issue here. >
  
  Im pretty sure it had nothing to do with the doctor and everything to do with the policy of the hospital. The article said that the doctor mistakenly scheduled the procedure there. That means the doctor agreed to do the procedure. They later declined to do it at that location bc of the policy not allowing the gender affirming care, and from what it seems, offered to do it elsewhere. >
  
  The surgeon was put in a difficult position. He was willing to do the surgery, but that specific hospital had a policy that prohibited gender confirmation surgery. When offered to perform the surgery at a different campus, the patient refused and instead sought litigation. Another example of a large hospital system using the provider as a scapegoat of their capitalist/religious driven intention. >
  
  From article:
  The University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center violated federal law when it refused to provide gender-affirming surgical care to a transgender man because of his gender identity, a federal court ruled Friday.
  Jesse Hammons, a transgender man diagnosed with gender dysphoria, was denied a hysterectomy to remove his uterus in 2020 after his scheduled surgeon discovered Hammons was transgender, citing a hospital policy that prohibits medical personnel from providing gender-affirming health care to transgender individuals.
  St. Joseph Medical Center, now part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), was, up until 2012, owned and operated as a Catholic hospital by Catholic Health Initiatives. As a condition of its purchase agreement, UMMS pledged to continue operating St. Joseph “in a manner consistent with Catholic values and principles.”
  That includes complying with a “formal reporting mechanism” to ensure the hospital is held accountable for its Catholic identity. The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) audits the hospital every two years to assess its adherence to a set of religious directives for Catholic health services set by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
  While the directives themselves – known as the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Services – state that medical procedures that induce sterility “are permitted when their direct effect is the cure or alleviation of a present and serious pathology,” guidelines for transgender health care set by the NCBC are much more stringent.
  “Gender transitioning should never be performed, encouraged, or positively affirmed as a good in Catholic health care,” reads a guidance document issued by the group. It adds that government mandates “do not alter the immorality of gender transitioning interventions” and Catholic hospitals should seek religious exemptions. >
  
  This isn't really even a trans issue in all honesty. Conservatives and religious nutbags love making it impossible for anyone with a uterus to be sterilized optionally. 
  Men's sterilization is treated like a joke basically (took me only a simple conversation with a urologist to get a vasectomy) but female sterilization is exceptionally difficult to get - with some states even requiring the consent of a husband still. 
  They suck universally. >
  
  Unless said Uterus owner is native American or Black, historically speaking. >
  
  I did say optionally, unfortunately :( >
  
  Absolutely the correct decision by the court. Equality and equity require more than simple "tolerance" - they require a recognition that the differences between the LGBTQ community and cishet society are not just social, but also medical. >
  
  So would you consider a cis womans desire for a hystorectomy a medical necessity? Because as i see it women have still far fewer rights when theyre born women than when theyre not. So where is the equality? >
  
  Being on testosterone can cause a lot of nasty side effects to the uterus.  
  To be fair having a uterus can also cause a lot of nasty side effects for cis woman too.  
  Medical care for all men, women and people in general is sorely lacking in this country and the blame completely lies on religion and for-profit medical care in the United States. This doesn't have to be a you can't eat until everybody has a plate situation this should be a "why doesn't everybody have silverware?" Situation. >
  
  What do you think this is, Scandinavia? >
  
  Obvious: A hospital is not a church. >
  
  
  “in a manner consistent with Catholic values and principles.”
  
  Do these values and principles apply to their own Priests? >
  
  Trans rights are human rights. >
  
  
  his scheduled surgeon discovered Hammons was transgender
  
  Why does this sound so sad and pathetic? >
  
  I cut ties with a former friend because she was to comfortable with discrimination like this. Her excuse was that we shouldn’t force someone to go against their conscience. Sounds good on paper, but here’s the rub: if your conscience tells you not to help people based on the LGBTQ+ status, religion, ethnicity, or other superficial thing like that, especially in a life-or-death situation, you have a shitty conscience. Anything remotely redeeming is she said that it was “a horrid ethical choice.”
  I can understand if it was more of a quality of life issue like if the patient had a major stroke that wiped out a lot of basic brain functions or something, but not “Oh, I hate Muslims because of 9/11 so I won’t help any Muslim.” >
  
  I feel like if someone finds cosmetic castration to be morally reprehensible and against their religion, you would be the facist for forcing them to commit that sin. >
  
  The hospital allowed it until it found out the patient is trans. What’s your point here exactly? >
  
  Religious doctrine should stay out of the way of medical best practice. Hospitals that put their religion above their patients’ best interests should be embarrassed >
  
  And that's the actual reason "conservatives" loathe it. No denial of care. >
  
  Worked there for several years. Can confirm St. Joe's is an absolute dump and the UMMS as a whole is corrupt, can't say any of this is surprising. I still remember receiving a hospital-wide email with outlined talking points for what to say if patients, visitors or our own friends/relatives asked about the Healthy Holly scandal investigation. >
  
  Hippocratic Oath
  I swear by Apollo the physician, and Asclepius, and Hygieia and Panacea and all the gods and goddesses as my witnesses, that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract:
  To hold him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to be a partner in life with him, and to fulfill his needs when required; to look upon his offspring as equals to my own siblings, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish to learn it, without fee or contract; and that by the set rules, lectures, and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the art to my own sons, and those of my teachers, and to students bound by this contract and having sworn this Oath to the law of medicine, but to no others.
  I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgement, and I will do no harm or injustice to them.
  I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.
  In purity and according to divine law will I carry out my life and my art.
  I will not use the knife, even upon those suffering from stones, but I will leave this to those who are trained in this craft.
  Into whatever homes I go, I will enter them for the benefit of the sick, avoiding any voluntary act of impropriety or corruption, including the seduction of women or men, whether they are free men or slaves.
  Whatever I see or hear in the lives of my patients, whether in connection with my professional practice or not, which ought not to be spoken of outside, I will keep secret, as considering all such things to be private.
  So long as I maintain this Oath faithfully and without corruption, may it be granted to me to partake of life fully and the practice of my art, gaining the respect of all men for all time. However, should I transgress this Oath and violate it, may the opposite be my fate. >
  
  Why go to a catholic hospital for gender reassignment surgery?  it's like you want to pick a fight with them. Just go to another hospital. It's like going to a priest for a bris. 
  Don't get me wrong, if you want to tear out your plumbing, go for it. This just seems like the worst way to accomplish the goal. >
  
  A hysterectomy is not gender reassignment surgery. The surgeon was going to perform it until finding out that he was trans. It’s literal discrimination