University of Mary, other North Dakota institutions file suit against transgender regulation

The State of North Dakota, the Sisters of Mercy, the University of Mary, and SMP Health System, a nonprofit hospital system founded by religious sisters in North Dakota, have filed suit against the Department of Health and Human Services over a regulation related to persons who identify themselves as transgendered.

Under the regulation, a medical provider or private insurer’s decision not to provide gender-transition procedures is seen as a violation of federal civil rights laws that bar sex discrimination.

“The new regulation forces doctors to ignore science and their medical judgment and perform gender transition procedures on children, even if the doctor believes the treatment could harm the child,” the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty stated.

A Catholic hospital network, five states, and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations filed a similar suit in August.