Transgender Woman Denied Care at Indiana Hospital

Last month, Erin Vaught went with her wife and son to Ball Hospital in Muncie, Indiana. She had been vomiting up blood and required medical care. Instead, as Jordan Rubenstein over at the Gay Rights blog notes,  what she received was a heaping dose of humiliation and discrimination. The doctor who saw her ultimately refused to treat her. All of this outrageous behavior simply because Vaught happens to be transgender.

The hospital's maltreatment began almost the moment Vaught and her family walked in the ER doors. Despite carrying official identification stating she is a woman, hospital staff insisted she be entered into the computer system as a male. Later, when she was in an exam room, Vaught was referred to by a number of transphobic terms, such as "he-she,"  an "it," and "transvestite."

Things really got worse hours later when a doctor finally came to examine Vaught. The doctor told her that she was unable to treat Vaught because of her "condition." Confused, Vaught said that she didn't know what her condition was, that's why she came to the emergency room. The doctor responded, "No, the transvestite thing," going on to say that Vaught could not receive care until until she returned with her medical records from a doctor in Indianapolis. Unbelievable.

I don't care what a doctor's or nurse's personal opinions about transgendered people are, they took an oath to provide the best medical care possible to all people. Since this appalling incident, advocacy groups like Indiana Equality and Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance have taken up the cause, filing official complaints, raising awareness, and arranging for Vaught to be treated at a different hospital.

For its part, Ball Memorial Hospital is pretty much keeping its mouth shut. In response to the controversy, hospital president Michael Haley has only said, "should there be any merit to the concerns expressed in the comments, the Hospital will respond in the appropriate manner."

Well, that's not enough. It is time to demand that Ball Memorial Hospital treat its LGTB patients with the respect and dignity they deserve. Too often, women in this country are denied medical treatment because of hospital ideology. When a woman walks into an emergency room, she should receive the best care available and nothing less. Enough is enough.

Photo credit: taberandrew