Catholic Pediatrician Says City Fired Her for Refusing to Prescribe Contraceptives

After moving to the United States from her native India, Doris Fernandes worked as a pediatrician at Philadelphia’s District Health Center at 4400 Haverford Avenue for 35 years. But now, the Roxborough resident claims that the city fired her in November 2013 because she refused to prescribe contraceptives like Depo-Provera and the morning-after pill to the young women in her care.

In her lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania, Fernandes, 83, asserts that prescribing contraceptives would be a violation of her Catholic faith, and she claims that for years, the city was perfectly willing to accommodate her religious beliefs.

From the suit:

For most of Dr. Fernandes’ 35 years with the Department, her religiously-motivated practice of not prescribing contraception for children who were her patients or making medical referrals for same was not an issue. On the rare occasions when a patient would present with a request for birth control of some kind, Plaintiff would simply reply “I don’t do that,” at which time the patient would go back to the receptionist to be reassigned to the other physician on duty…

But that all changed in 2013, says Fernandes. According to her suit, Victor Igbokidi, the medical director of pediatric and adolescent services for the city’s Department of Public Health, told her directly that she would need to begin prescribing contraceptives. Fernandes responded with a letter. “This letter is to let you know that I cannot participate,” she wrote. “For participation is strictly forbidden by my religious beliefs and against my conscience.”

After that, the city fired her.

The lawsuit claims that the city violated Fernandes’ civil rights, in part by refusing to accommodate her religious beliefs. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 holds that an employer must reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs, unless doing so would impact the employer’s business in a significant way.

The suit names the city, the Department of Public Health, Igbokidi and ambulatory health service director Thomas Storey and seeks unspecified damages. A health department spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

[Photo: Ciell, via Wikimedia Commons]

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