Did Christian doctors discriminate against lesbian patient?
Published 20 June, 2008, 14:14
The Supreme Court of California is to rule on the case of a lesbian woman who claims religious freedoms meant she was the victim of discrimination.
The case dates back to 1999, when Guadalupe Benitez decided to conceive. Benitez says doctors violated her rights by refusing insemination treatment because their religious beliefs forbade them to, reports the Washington Post.
But the two doctors say it was nothing to do with her sexual orientation. They say they refused to treat her because their Christian beliefs didn’t allow them to inseminate an unmarried woman. Their position is protected by the constitutional right to freedom of religion, they said.
Benitez’s legal adviser argued that while the law allows doctors to refuse certain treatments on religious grounds, it doesn’t allow doing so on a discriminatory basis.
A court ruled in Benitez’s favour in 2004, saying a private medical institution must provide services in accordance with California's anti-discrimination laws. An appeal court overturned the decision a year later.
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