Worthy Christian News > US News > California bill would force doctors to undergo transgender care training against their faith

California bill would force doctors to undergo transgender care training against their faith

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A California bill introduced last month would require all doctors and healthcare providers to undergo training on how to provide “inclusive” care to transgender people – a move which Christians say would force them into sterilizing patients and telling them lies about their gender, Christian Headlines (CH) reports.

Introduced by Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, bill SB-923 would require medical personnel to take “cultural competency training” on providing trans-inclusive health care for individuals who identify as transgender, gender non-conforming, or intersex (TGI),” CH said.

According to the bill, the training must include instruction on the “oppression” of transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex people, and on how to use “people’s correct names and pronouns,” CH reports. The bill does not provide exemptions for medical personnel to forgo the training on religious grounds.

“It’s simple: transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex people deserve the same quality of healthcare that everyone else receives,” Wiener said in a statement.

“No one should go to a doctor’s appointment only to be misgendered, harassed, or even refused treatment…too many TGI patients aren’t treated appropriately. These traumatizing experiences keep people away from the doctor and prevent them from receiving the care they need,” he said.

Criticizing the bill in a separate statement, Greg Burt, director of capitol engagement for the California Family Council said: “Forced ideological indoctrination training is nothing new. Unable to persuade the populace of his point of view within the marketplace of ideas, Wiener now wants to force people into reeducation classes where Christians will be shamed for their faith and encouraged to sterilize patients and tell them lies about their gender.”