DAUPHIN COUNTY, Penn. – The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP filed a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County against Penn State Health, Penn State Health St. Joseph, and the Pennsylvania State University after a hospital in the Penn State Health network abruptly canceled a gender-affirming procedure less than 24 hours before the patient was scheduled to receive their care. Administrators at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center claimed the operation went against Catholic doctrine despite regularly performing similar procedures on cisgender men and women.
The plaintiff, EJ Stiles, is a non-binary Pennsylvanian who was scheduled for a medically necessary mastectomy after consultations with their doctors. The lawsuit being brought on behalf of Stiles argues that Penn State Health, Penn State Health St. Joseph, and the Pennsylvania State University violated the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, deprived Stiles of their right to equal protection under the law, and violated the Equal Rights Amendment by discriminating against Stiles on the basis of sex. It also argues that the institutions violated religious freedom provisions in the Pennsylvania Constitution by exercising state authority to enforce religious doctrine.
“I did everything right. I followed my doctors’ advice and trusted Penn State Health after they made me feel there was a place for patients like me. But being denied care so suddenly, simply because of who I am, was a devastating eye-opener,” said Stiles. “If an institution’s biases can so easily lock transgender and nonbinary patients out of care, then our health care system is operating with holes that need to be addressed. We all deserve equal access to health care, and to be served by institutions that honor their responsibility to treat us with dignity.”
Penn State Health is a network of public hospitals funded in part by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As a result, the hospitals in the network, including Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center, are subject to the Equal Rights Amendment and the equal protection and religious freedom provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Yet, even after joining the Penn State Health network in 2015, Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center’s website continues to state that it operates as a “Catholic hospital.”
“EJ Stiles has the right to access the same health care options as any other patient, and those decisions are between a patient and their doctor,” said Rich Ting, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “EJ’s surgery at a Penn State Health hospital being canceled based on religious beliefs is an outrageous and illegal action that put EJ’s health and well-being in jeopardy for months. If hospitals controlled by a public university can reap the benefits of state funds, then they must be bound by the same constitutional and equal protection mandates as all other state-funded institutions.”
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and attorneys’ fees on behalf of Stiles and asks the court to declare that Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center’s actions violated their rights under the Equal Rights Amendment, equal protection provisions, and religious freedom provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.
You can read the full lawsuit here.
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