Legal Documents

This brief responds to the Christian and Dental Medical Associations claims that it is acceptable for physicians to deny care on the basis of their religious beliefs. A physician's decision to selectively deny care due to a patient's sexual orientation violates a patient's civil rights and is therefore unlawful despite his or her religious convictions.

Though the California Medical Association rightly condemns sexual orientation discrimination, its claim that a physician should be able to choose which procedures he performs is irrelevant to this case.

Lambda Legal's opening brief argues against the religiously motivated discrimination that has prevented Guadalupe Benitez from receiving the fertility treatment she needs. Benitez's doctors refused her treatment because of her sexual orientation clearly violating California statutes and the plaintiff's basic civil rights.

This brief refutes assertions presented by the North Coast Women's Care Medical Group that the religious beliefs that motivated their refusal to offer fertility treatment to a lesbian are protected.