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Evan Minton Allowed To Sue Hospital Over Canceled Hysterectomy

SACRAMENTO COUNTY (CBS13) - An appeals court has given a Sacramento-area transgender man the green light to sue Mercy San Juan Medical Center after canceling his elected hysterectomy at the last minute.

evan minton
Evan Minton

Just two days before his scheduled hysterectomy, the doctor called saying the hospital had canceled Evan Minton's hysterectomy. He says it happened after he mentioned to a nurse that he was transgender.

Starting in 2011, Minton began transitioning from a woman to a man. The hysterectomy was the next step in becoming who he believes he's supposed to be.

"I was finally able to come to terms with being trans and as soon as I accepted that, the shame that I had been carrying around my entire life just evaporated," he said.

Dignity Health, which operates Mercy San Juan, says courts have repeatedly recognized the right of faith-based hospitals not to provide services based on their religious principles.

Minton was able to have the procedure at another Dignity Health hospital.

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