Transgender people planning a medical transition face decisions about family planning, fertility preservation, and how to access gender-affirming treatment.
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(11):1119-1125. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.11.pfor2-1611.
Qualifying conscience protections for institutions with requirements that they minimize hardship caused to the patient would prevent religious institutions from acting as a choke point on the path to services.
If employees of religious institutions whose consciences conflict with those of their employers were to be granted legal protection for positive claims of conscience, the religious freedom of institutions within which they work would be gravely compromised.
With good planning and good will, medical professionals’ right of conscience and patients’ rights to controversial services can be both protected and accommodated.