The Sacramento Bee reports that a California hospital denied a transgender man a hysterectomy on religious grounds:

Tuesday was supposed to be a big day for Evan Michael Minton. The Fair Oaks resident packed his bags for the hospital, said a prayer and counted down the hours until he would undergo the hysterectomy that would take him one step further in his transition from female to male.

Instead he spent the day on the phone with doctors and lawyers after Mercy San Juan hospital in Carmichael abruptly canceled the procedure on religious grounds.

The surgery, part of Minton’s transition to a fully male body, had been scheduled for three weeks but was called off Monday as hospital officials were preparing his admissions paperwork. …

The hospital, part of the Dignity Health chain, said the procedure goes against its anti-sterilization policies, which are based on ethical and religious directives issued in 2009 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In a statement, Dignity Health, which until 2012 was affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, declined to discuss Minton’s case, citing patient privacy laws.