Penn State Health sued for citing Catholicism to cancel gender-affirming surgery

Calling the defendants “instrumentalities” of Pennsylvania, the lawsuit says state entities are prohibited from “wielding their authority in service of religious beliefs.” State law also prohibits hospitals from treating transgender individuals unequally, it adds.

“EJ’s surgery at a Penn State Health hospital being canceled based on religious beliefs is an outrageous and illegal action that put EJ’s health and well-being in jeopardy for months,” said Rich Ting, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

“If hospitals controlled by a public university can reap the benefits of state funds, then they must be bound by the same constitutional and equal protection mandates as all other state-funded institutions.”

The surgery was to take place at Penn State Health St. Joseph, which, before its purchase by Penn State, operated as a private Catholic hospital. Stiles sought a gender specialist after turning 18 and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in October 2023.

A Penn State Health doctor recommended hormone replacement therapy and mental health assistance. Dr. Hannah Wenger also decided a mastectomy was medically necessary to alleviate stress.

Stiles was set to go under the knife on July 24, 2024, and had obtained insurance coverage for it. The day before, a call from the hospital’s scheduling department confirmed the appointment, but two hours later another call informed Stiles the surgery was off.

Staff told Stiles gender-affirming surgeries and procedures are not in alignment with the Catholic church, the lawsuit says.

“EJ was devastated when Defendants cancelled EJ’s medically necessary surgery,” the suit says.

“EJ felt that they were being told their health and well-being were not worthy of being protected, and they felt angry that the hospital – which is part of their own state government – was using other people’s religious beliefs to deny them the medical treatment they needed.”

Stiles had previously used a process called chest-binding to hide their breasts, and after the surgery was cancelled, they continued to do so. In August 2024, Stiles was diagnosed with costcochondritis – inflammation of the cartilage connecting ribs to the breastbone.

Ultimately, Stiles had the mastectomy about three months after the cancellation, but they say the delay was a burden and caused more medical expenses.

“I followed my doctors’ advice and trusted Penn State Health after they made me feel there was a place for patients like me. But being denied care so suddenly, simply because of who I am, was a devastating eye-opener,” Stiles said.

“If an institution’s biases can so easily lock transgender and nonbinary patients out of care, then our health care system is operating with holes that need to be addressed.”