A Michigan pediatrician says she cannot in good moral conscience accept a same-sex couple’s baby as a patient.
Jami and Krista Contreras live in Oak Park, Michigan, a state without protections for LGBT people, and the state the 6th Circuit ruled can deny marriage to same-sex couples. But when they found a pediatrician who met their requirements, and knew they were a couple, they were thrilled to bring their six-day old newborn baby to her for her first wellness checkup.
The couple met with Dr. Roi before their baby was born, and were pleased. But they say when the got to the office of Dr. Vesna Roi at Eastlake Pediatrics last October for the baby’s first checkup, they were told that they would have to see a different pediatrician. Now they’re speaking out because they feel a great sense of injustice.
A few weeks ago, Dr. Roi sent them a letter to explain her decision.
“I never meant to hurt either of you,” Dr. Roi writes. “After much prayer following your prenatal [visit], I felt that I would not be able to develop the personal patient doctor relationship that I normally do with my patients.”
“Please know that I believe that God gives us free choice and I would never judge anyone based on what they do with that free choice,” the letter, obtained by the Detroit Free Press, continues. “Again, I am very sorry for the hurt and angry feelings that were created by this. I hope that you can accept my apology.”
She signed the message, “Blessings.”
The Contreras couple are not satisfied.
“We want people to know that this is happening to families. This is really happening,” Jami Contreras says. “It was embarrassing. It was humiliating. … It’s just wrong.”
On Facebook, Krista Contreras writes that they “met with Dr. Roi months before our little girl was born. We let her know that she was our choice. She was well aware that we were lesbian moms. We canceled meetings with other pediatricians because we were happy with her. Now our little girl was six days old and we were in a room with a doctor we have never met feeling pretty humiliated, distraught and hurt. The fact that she refused to see our innocent little girl, is disturbing. But the fact that she did not have the decency to let us know ahead of time that she had a problem with the sexual orientation of her parents and would not be willing to take her as a patient really just pissed me off. She could have at least made up an excuse to allow us the ability to find another doctor. Months of researching pediatricians to be in a room with a doctor we had zero interest in seeing.”
The couple’s lawyer happens to be the same attorney who has ushered through the courts the same case the U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing in April. Attorney Dana Nessel calls the situation a “very scary thing.”
“What kind of a society are we that we would allow this to happen?,” she asks.
Image: Screenshot via Detroit Free Press