On Monday the California Supreme Court rule unanimously ruled that doctors cannot refuse to medical care for gays and lesbians based on the physicians’ religious beliefs. The constitutional right to exercise free religion does not allow businesses to skirt California state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The case that led to this ruling began in 1999 when Guadalupe Benitez, a lesbian, went to two doctors for fertility treatments. Both doctors refused to help her become inseminated claiming it was because she was unmarried and that doing so violated their religious beliefs. Benitez sued the physicians and won in 2004. That decision was overturned in 2005. This decision overturns that ruling. So basically the constitutional right to freedom of religion cannot override California’s anti-discrimination law, which bars businesses from arbitrarily discriminating against clients based on characteristics such as race, age, and sexual orientation (marital status was added to the list in 2006). Quite simply, the doctor’s office is no place for discrimination. That’s how it should be.
