Appeals court rules in favor of doctors in lesbian insemination case

By: Associated Press | Saturday, December 3, 2005 10:32 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO -- A state appeals court ruled that two fertility doctors had the right to refuse to artificially inseminate a lesbian based on her marital status because it would have violated their religious beliefs.

Friday's ruling reversed a lower court decision that Drs. Christine Brody and Douglas Fenton could not use religion as a defense against a lawsuit filed by Guadalupe Benitez.

The panel found that the doctors were within their rights because they based their decision on Benitez's unmarried status and that discrimination based on marital status is not prohibited by state law.

Benitez, 33, sued the doctors and their small practice in Vista in 2001, claiming their actions violated California's anti-discrimination laws.

Benitez was eventually treated elsewhere and gave birth to a boy who is now 3 years old.

In her suit, Benitez claims that Brody told her in 1999 that her religious beliefs prevented her from helping a homosexual conceive a child by artificial insemination, but that other physicians at the practice would be able to help her.

The next year, Benitez said, she was told that both Brody and Fenton were unable to help her because they did not feel comfortable with her sexual orientation.

The doctors contend they denied treatment because Benitez and her registered domestic partner of 15 years were not married. But Benitez's attorneys said she was denied because of her sexual orientation, not her marital status.

An attorney for a gay rights group said the decision would be appealed to the California Supreme Court.

"We fear this decision is going to worsen the confusion in the minds of the public about whether you can legally discriminate in the name of religion," said Jennifer Pizer, attorney for Lambda Legal Defense. "The bottom line is that you should not be able to treat patients in a discriminatory way."

The case appears to be the first in the country in which a gay or lesbian patient was allowed to sue doctors over charges that treatment was denied based on sexual orientation.

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