Doctor's office no place for bigotry

California's highest court ruled correctly against doctors who invoke religious beliefs to deny treatment to gays and lesbians.

The precedent for doctors to treat everyone equally starts with the Hippocratic oath. California state law builds and broadens the concept of equality by specifically prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In the seven-year-old case before the court, Guadalupe Benitez, a lesbian who lives with her partner in San Diego County, was treated with fertility drugs by two doctors but denied artificial insemination. The doctors cited their religious beliefs about homosexuality for the refusal to treat Benitez, who was referred to a fertility specialist who didn't have moral objections to the procedure. She has since given birth to three children.

But Benitez rightfully felt she had been discriminated against and the state Supreme Court agreed.

"The 1st Amendment's right to the free exercise of religion does not exempt defendant physicians here from conforming their conduct to the ... anti-discrimination requirements," Justice Joyce L. Kennard wrote for the court.

Government has a compelling interest in maintaining public health and preventing discrimination. This is the principle guiding this page's support of Washington state rules requiring pharmacists to fill valid prescriptions, including those for the so-called Plan B contraceptive. A few pharmacists invoked religious beliefs in their effort to refuse prescriptions.

Respect for religious principles must end where discrimination begins. Licensed professionals are obligated to serve the public or move to a profession in less conflict with their values.

Nor can discrimination be parsed as some being more harmful than others. Refusing treatment to a patient because of their sexual orientation is the same as refusing treatment to a black or Jewish patient.

Allowing doctors to act based on their religious views about other people begins a slippery slope that places everyone at risk.

In the interest of doctor-patient trust, drawing a firm line is necessary. The last thing a patient needs when they enter a doctor's office is to encounter bigotry.