Court says docs can't refuse IUI for lesbians

Article

The California Supreme Court say doctors cannot refuse intrauterine insemination on single, lesbian women.

The California Supreme Court recently found that doctors' refusal to perform intrauterine insemination (IUI) on a single, lesbian woman, citing their religious beliefs, violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, according to American Medical News (10/13/08). The act prohibits any business, including medical groups, from discriminating on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origins, disability, medical condition, or sexual orientation. The plaintiff sued North Coast Women's Care Medical Group and its two physicians, who refused to perform the IUI, charging that the refusal constituted discrimination based on her sexual orientation. The doctors claimed that their actions were based on the plaintiff's marital status, not her sexual orientation, and were protected under the rights of free speech and freedom of religion in the federal and state constitutions. The judges concluded that these rights do not exempt a medical clinic's physicians from complying with the prohibition against discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation in the state's civil rights act.

In their unanimous ruling, the judges said that to avoid any conflict between their religious beliefs and the antidiscrimination provisions of the state's civil rights act, "defendant physicians can simply refuse to perform the IUI medical procedure at issue here for any patient of North Coast, the physicians' employer." Another alternative, the court said, would be to ensure "that every patient requiring IUI receives full and equal access to that medical procedure through a North Coast physician lacking defendants' religious objections."

Recent Videos
How advancements in IVF are impacting embryologist workload and patient care | Image Credit: fertility.coopersurgical.com/our_experts
Study finds no causal link between maternal health in pregnancy and autism risk | Image Credit: med.nyu.edu/faculty.
Mirvie's RNA platform revolutionizes detection of fetal growth restriction | Image Credit: wexnermedical.osu.edu
How early genetic testing empowers parents and improves outcomes | Image Credit: tuftsmedicine.org
Dallas Reed highlights trends and barriers in prenatal genetic testing | Image Credit: tuftsmedicine.org
How maternal fetal medicine specialists improve outcomes for high-risk pregnancies | Image Credit: profiles.mountsinai.org
How the cobas liat assay panels improve STI detection | Image Credit: labqualityconfab.
Screening-to-diagnosis interval vital for gestational diabetes outcomes | Image Credit: ultracon2024.eventscribe.net
Henri M. Rosenberg, MD
Medical experts personalize contraceptive options for complex cases | Image Credit: findcare.ahn.org
Related Content
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.