A New Jersey woman who suffers from gender dysphoria is suing a Catholic hospital for refusing to take out her healthy uterus. Jionnia Conforti is a biological female who identifies as a transgender male.
Conforti is suing St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center for discrimination after the Roman Catholic hospital refused to perform a total hysterectomy — complete removal of her uterus, ovaries and cervix.
Conforti, 33, was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2014, and underwent a double mastectomy to remove her breasts as part of her “transition”.
Conforti’s complaint states she suffers from depression and anxiety stemming from her need to look as masculine as humanly possible.
“I felt completely disrespected as a person,” Conforti told the NY Daily News.
She says the hysterectomy is medically necessary because the testosterone injections she takes to enhance male characteristics puts her at risk for uterine cancer. A total hysterectomy would cause surgically induced menopause due to the drop in Estrogen.
Conforti was initially approved for the surgery by a doctor at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, but she was denied in an email when she tried to schedule the surgery a week later.
“This is to follow up to your e-mail inquiring about scheduling a total hysterectomy here at St. Joseph’s to remove all female parts based on medical necessity for Gender Reassignment,” the email read. “This is to inform you that as a Catholic hospital we would not be able to allow your surgeon to schedule this surgery here at St. Joseph’s.”
Conforti eventually received the surgery at a different facility several months later.
700 Catholic employers, including hospitals, filed a lawsuit challenging President Obama’s new transgender rule that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2017. The new rule prohibits hospitals from refusing to perform hysterectomies on females who identify as transgender males.
