Gender-Affirming Surgery Canceled by State-Owned Hospital Guided by Catholic Identity

A Pennsylvania hospital is being sued for cancelling a gender-affirming surgery, claiming citing its Catholic principles as the grounds for the decision.

EJ Stiles, a nonbinary person,  is suing Penn State University after their mastectomy surgery was cancelled less than 24 hours before it was scheduled to begin. The reason given for cancelling the surgery was the claim that gender affirming surgeries and procedures are not in alignment with the Catholic church, according to coverage of the lawsuit by Mid-Michigan Now.

The surgery was scheduled to take place at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center, in Hershey. The institution was purchased by Penn State 2015, yet its website says it operates under “our values as a Catholic hospital” and is “guided by Catholic Social Teaching.”

According to the lawsuit, the hospital’s scheduling department confirmed the surgery the day before it was set to occur. Two hours later, Stiles received a separate call during which they were informed that the surgery was cancelled, due to the fact that the procedure was “not in alignment with the Catholic church.”

The decision to cancel was made despite the fact that Penn State Health officials had originally recommended the mastectomy procedure “to align [Stile’s] outward presentation with their gender identity.” The patient had already been receiving hormone replacement therapy and mental health assistance through the Penn State Health system when their physician, Dr. Hannah Wenger, decided that a mastectomy was medically necessary to alleviate stress. 

The lawsuit states:

“EJ felt that they were being told their health and well-being were not worthy of being protected, and they felt angry that the hospital – which is part of their own state government – was using other people’s religious beliefs to deny them the medical treatment they needed.” 

The lawsuit asserts that state entities, including hospitals operated by public universities, are prohibited from “wielding their authority in service of religious beliefs.” Additionally, state law prohibits hospitals from treating transgender patients unequally. 

Rich Ting, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, stated:

“EJ’s surgery at a Penn State Health hospital being canceled based on religious beliefs is an outrageous and illegal action that put EJ’s health and well-being in jeopardy for months.If hospitals controlled by a public university can reap the benefits of state funds, then they must be bound by the same constitutional and equal protection mandates as all other state-funded institutions.” 

Penn State Health did not comment publicly on the case because of the pending litigation.

While the lawsuit focuses on the publicly-owed hospital’s misuse of religious grounds to deny care, for Stiles, the impact of being denied care is deeply personal and calls to mind questions of safety. Stiles reflected:

“I followed my doctors’ advice and trusted Penn State Health after they made me feel there was a place for patients like me. But being denied care so suddenly, simply because of who I am, was a devastating eye-opener. If an institution’s biases can so easily lock transgender and nonbinary patients out of care, then our health care system is operating with holes that need to be addressed.”

When someone receives care at a Catholic hospital, that institution’s Catholic identity or history should bring comfort, an assurance of person-centered care, and a promise of just practices. When an institution’s Catholic identity–either current or previous– instead instills fear, mistrust, and hurt, there are clearly–as Stiles points out–holes in the system. At a time when opportunities for gender-affirming care are becoming increasingly scarce, if a health institution truly wants to embody Catholic values, then it must provide care to transgender patients that so dearly need it. 

—Phoebe Carstens, New Ways Ministry, August 12, 2026