RFK Jr moves to restrict gender-affirming care for minors
The Trump administration moved to restrict gender-affirming care for minors, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced.
The University of Michigan Health-West will implement a new policy boosting protections for religious employees as part of a settlement reached in a First Amendment lawsuit.
Valerie Kloosterman, a physician assistant who had worked at the hospital for 17 years, was fired in 2021 for her “unwillingness to refer ‘gender transitioning’ patients for certain drugs and procedures” and her “unwillingness to use pronouns that do not correspond to a patient’s biological sex,” according to a federal complaint filed in 2022.
Among other allegations, the lawsuit accused the hospital system of violating Kloosterman’s First Amendment rights.
First Liberty Institute, Kloosterman’s legal counsel, said in a July 29 news release that the settlement requires the hospital system to “create a religious accommodation policy in accordance with the law, notify and train all its employees, grant reasonable religious accommodations without retaliation” and pay $410,000 in damages and legal fees.
“Under the new policy, employees will not be required to perform or assist with gender transition treatments, including procedures, medications, and referrals, if doing so would violate the employee’s sincerely-held religious belief,” the organization said. “Employees also will not be required to use pronouns in a way that violates their sincerely-held religious belief or conscience.”
Kloosterman, who testified at a Religious Liberty Commission hearing centered on religious freedom in healthcare in March, said in the news release that her goal was to “provide the best care possible to my patients without being forced to violate my Christian beliefs.”
“This new policy ensures that providers of faith and employees at UMHW will receive religious accommodations so that they can provide excellent care consistent with their medical judgment, because all patients are created in the image of God,” Kloosterman said.
The hospital system declined to comment on the matter.
BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.