July 22, 2026
Nicole Hester/USA Today via Reuters Connect
EJ Stiles, a 23-year-old nonbinary patient, said their scheduled gender-affirming surgery was canceled the day before the appointment.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a non-binary patient who says Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center canceled their gender-affirming surgery over religious objections.
EJ Stiles, a 23-year-old Palmyra resident, was scheduled for a double mastectomy at the Berks County hospital on July 24, 2024. But the day before their appointment, Stiles received a call from two administrators informing them the procedure had been canceled. According to the lawsuit, the hospital staffers told Stiles gender-affirming surgeries were "not in alignment with directives of the Catholic Church."
The medical center had operated as a private Catholic hospital from 1996 until 2015, when Penn State Health acquired it. Even after the acquisition, however, the healthcare system allegedly allowed St. Joseph Medical Center to continue honoring the Catholic Church's directives for medical providers. These guidelines forbid abortions, contraceptives, IVF and interventions that "transform sexual characteristics of a human body."
ACLU lawyers argue St. Joseph Medical Center can't claim these religious exemptions, as it is now a public hospital in a health system governed by a tax-exempt state university. In denying Stiles' surgery, the suit says, Penn State Health violated the Equal Rights Amendment of the state constitution and other provisions. The litigation also cites the anti-discriminatory protections of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.
Stiles, who received their requested surgery at Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center three months later, said the cancelation cost them money and caused emotional distress. While waiting for a new appointment, Stiles's diagnosed gender dysmorphia worsened. They began chest binding for long periods of time and contracted costochondritis, an inflammation which sent them to the emergency room.
"I did everything right," Stiles said in a statement. "I followed my doctors’ advice and trusted Penn State Health after they made me feel there was a place for patients like me. But being denied care so suddenly, simply because of who I am, was a devastating eye-opener.
"If an institution’s biases can so easily lock transgender and nonbinary patients out of care, then our healthcare system is operating with holes that need to be addressed. We all deserve equal access to healthcare, and to be served by institutions that honor their responsibility to treat us with dignity."
Penn State Health did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Along with compensation for Stiles, the ACLU of PA is seeking an injunction that would prevent St. Joseph Medical Center from operating according to Catholic healthcare directives and "engaging in unlawful discriminatory practices."
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