TRENTON, N.J. – The Latest on a lawsuit filed by a transgender man who says a Roman Catholic hospital wouldn't perform a hysterectomy procedure on him (all times local):
6:15 p.m.
A New Jersey Roman Catholic hospital sued by a transgender man who says he wasn't allowed to have a hysterectomy says it follows religious directives.
Jionni (jee-AH'-nee) Conforti says St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson wouldn't perform a procedure medically necessary as part of his gender transition.
The hospital said Thursday it follows ethical and religious directives from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in making decisions about care and treatment. The directives say procedures judged "morally wrong" by the church don't have to be performed.
Conforti had scheduled the surgery at the hospital in 2015. He says a hospital administrator told him the procedure to remove the uterus couldn't be done because it's a "Catholic hospital."
He's seeking monetary damages and a requirement the hospital perform needed medical care for transgender patients.
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10:30 a.m.
A transgender man has sued a Catholic hospital in New Jersey after he says it cited religion in refusing to allow his surgeon to perform a hysterectomy procedure.
Jionni (jee'-AH-nee) Conforti says the procedure was medically necessary as part of his gender transition.
His lawsuit filed Thursday comes at the same time as new regulations hailed as groundbreaking anti-discrimination protections for transgender individuals have come under legal attack from religious groups.
The 33-year-old Totowa man had scheduled the surgery at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson in 2015. But he alleges in the lawsuit that a hospital administrator then told him that the procedure to remove the uterus couldn't be done because it was a "Catholic hospital."
A hospital spokesman said he hasn't seen the lawsuit and could not comment.
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This story has been corrected to show the name of the transgender man is Jionni, not Jionny.
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