Calif. Court: Doctors Can't Discriminate Based on Sex Orientation

By Adelle M. Banks Religion News Service California's Supreme Court ruled Monday (Aug. 18) that doctors cannot discriminate against gays and lesbians even if they believe their religious freedom will be violated during a course of treatment. The case involved a San Diego County lesbian, Guadalupe Benitez, who informed doctors that she and her partner wanted to pursue fertility treatments. Two doctors in a Vista, Calif., practice said that their religious beliefs would prevent them from performing an artificial insemination for Benitez. Benitez sued, citing California's civil rights act. The Constitution's "right to the free exercise of religion does not exempt defendant physicians here from conforming their conduct to the Act's antidiscrimination requirements even if compliance poses an incidental conflict with defendants'... [read full story]