Biden admin appeals in case to force doctors, hospitals to perform transgender procedures even if unwilling

On Tuesday, the Biden administration filed an appeal aiming to require doctors and hospitals to carry out possibly harmful transgender-related procedures and surgeries, even if they are unwilling to.

A North Dakota judge in January sided with Catholic hospitals in striking down the Biden administration’s move to punish doctors who don’t perform transgender-related procedures for “sex discrimination,” according to Luke Goodrich, Vice President and senior counsel at BECKET Law. The administration filed an appeal on Tuesday.

Goodrich took to Twitter to outline his arguments about the administration’s move, which he vehemently opposes:

The plaintiffs are religious doctors, hospitals, and clinics who joyfully serve ALL patients regardless of sex or gender identity. They routinely provide top-notch care to transgender patients for everything from cancer to the common cold.

They also provide millions of dollars in free and low-cost care to the elderly, poor, and underserved–care that is jeopardized by the government’s attempt to punish them with multi-million dollar penalties.

The Transgender Mandate not only threatens religious doctors and hospitals. It also threatens patients, as there is ample evidence that certain gender transition procedures can be deeply harmful.

Multiple federal courts have reached the same conclusion: “There is no medical consensus that sex reassignment surgery is a necessary or even effective treatment for gender dysphoria.” Gibson v. Collier, 920 F.3d 212, 223 (5th Cir. 2019).

The government’s own doctors during the Obama Admin agreed: “Based on a thorough review of the clinical evidence…there is not enough evidence to determine whether gender reassignment surgery improves health outcomes for [patients] with gender dysphoria.

And just weeks ago, a study commissioned by NHS England found “very low” evidence for the effectiveness of “puberty blockers” and cross-sex hormones.

The Biden Admin shouldn’t have appealed. But we look forward to another ruling that protects patients, aligns with current medical research, and ensures doctors aren’t forced to violate their religious beliefs and professional medical judgment.

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @DouglasPBraff.