Fifth Circuit Upholds Physicians’ Right to Follow Conscience and Judgment

​The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans issued a unanimous ruling that the Department of Health and Human Services cannot force physicians to perform gender-transition procedures or abortions against their conscience or medical judgment. This ruling is a tremendous victory for the rights of religious exercise and conscience everywhere.
 
This landmark decision is the result of Franciscan Alliance v. Becerra, a case that pitted the Roman Catholic healthcare system Franciscan Alliance and other parties against President Biden’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra. The case revolved around a federal mandate issued in 2016 as part of the Affordable Care Act requiring doctors and hospitals to perform gender-transition procedures on any patient, including a child, even if the procedure violates the physician’s conscience and in his or her judgment could harm the patient.
 
The mandate also required private insurance companies and many employers to cover gender reassignment therapy or face severe penalties and legal action.
 
The Fifth Circuit also affirmed a lower court’s order “permanently enjoining (HHS) from requiring Franciscan Alliance to perform gender-reassignment surgeries or abortions in violation of its sincerely held religious beliefs.”
 
Joseph Davis, legal counsel for the Becket law firm, which filed suit on behalf of the Franciscan Alliance, said: “Doctors cannot do their jobs and comply with the Hippocratic oath if the government requires them to perform harmful, irreversible procedures against their conscience and medical expertise.”
 
PT1st looks forward to the extension of this rule to protect healers of faith and others who freely exercise their beliefs under the First Amendment.