The Washington Post published a remarkably bewildering piece Friday morning criticizing a Catholic hospital for not performing a voluntary hysterectomy on a “man.”
The article was highly sympathetic to the plight of the transgendered patient while expressing apparent confusion as to the hospital’s bigoted policy, explaining that all Jionni Conforti wanted to do was have “his” uterus removed, but the Big Bad Catholics wouldn’t let him.
According to the article, Conforti was diagnosed with gender dysphoria just two years ago, and soon after began transitioning from a female to a male. She pumped her body full of doctor-prescribed hormone replacements and underwent a double mastectomy, which her doctors deemed “medically necessary,” according to WaPo.
No one treated Conforti’s mental disorder; rather, they encouraged it.
As the next step in the body-altering process, Conforti made an appointment to undergo a voluntary hysterectomy to remove her uterus, scheduling the procedure at St. Joseph’s Hospital in New Jersey – a Catholic facility. Conforti claims the hospital agreed to perform the procedure but later canceled, citing the facility’s policy against performing gender-reassignment procedures in accordance with their faith-based standards.
Despite finding another hospital that would perform the procedure, Conforti is now suing St. Joseph's on the grounds of discrimination, telling WaPo she still feels "shocked," "humiliated" and “completely disrespected" by the ordeal.
WaPo fails to mention in their article whether St. Joseph’s was aware that Conforti’s hysterectomy was part of a gender reassignment plan at the time she initially requested it, nor does the author address how far along she was in the process before the procedure was declined.
The Washington Post also takes great pains to point out Conforti’s hysterectomy was “medically necessary” due to her heightened risk of developing cancer thanks to the hormone replacement therapy; however, the publication omits the fact that such an invasive surgery carries inherent risks such as serious infections (which affect between 10 and 13 percent of all patients, according to the National Institutes of Health).
The publication does, however, give scant attention to St. Joseph’s medical policies -- at least, enough to backhandedly demonize the hospital for not performing a voluntary, life-altering surgery on a mentally ill patient just because they're a religious institution.
Now, Conforti is alleging discrimination against a Catholic, non-profit hospital who, in its very creed, prohibits gender reassignment procedures and abortions on religious grounds. For that matter, they also don’t allow the destruction of human embryos during in vitro, nor do they perform voluntary sterilizations for the purpose of contraception.
The answer here is simple: if you want one of these procedures, find another hospital.
And for those of you that still read the Washington Post, find another newspaper.