Trans Person Sues to Force Catholic Hospital to Perform Gender Surgeries

A transgender person is suing a Catholic hospital in New Jersey to force them to perform gender transition surgeries.

Jionni Conforti says a Catholic hospital denied his request for a hysterectomy when he was still a woman.

Saint Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson said performing the surgery would violate its religious rights.

Conforti says a hospital administrator told him the procedure to remove his uterus couldn't be done because it was a "Catholic hospital."

The medical facility follows ethical and religious directives from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and those directives say procedures judged "morally wrong" by the church don't have to be performed.

Conforti had the procedure performed three months later at a different hospital. He said he's suing so no one else has to go through what he did.

Conforti, 33, is also seeking monetary damages and a requirement that the hospital perform any needed medical care for transgender patients.