Factors Affecting Public Opinion on Denial of Healthcare to Transgender Persons

• In Event: 2320 - Social Control and the Provision of Care

Abstract

Almost a third of transgender people have been refused treatment by a medical provider due to their actual or perceived gender identity. New federal regulations provide clinicians with even greater discretion to deny medical treatment to this marginalized group on the basis of religious objections. Yet, we know little about the factors that shape public attitudes toward these issues. We present results from a nationally representative survey experiment (N = 4,887) that examines how common justifications issued by providers for the denial of healthcare, and the race and gender identity of the person being denied care, intersect to shape public opinion concerning the acceptability of treatment refusal. Across three outcomes, we examine the overall acceptability, redemptive acceptability (after a medical provider has offered alternative treatment paths), and believability of the doctor’s stated rationale. We find that religious objections are viewed as less acceptable across the board compared to a medical justification (in this case, inadequate training). However, the difference between religious objections and inadequate training is larger when the person being denied healthcare is white or Asian than when they are Black or Latinx. There are few differences between transmen and transwomen. Implications of findings for research on transgender health and healthcare access are discussed.

Authors

• Long Doan, University of Maryland-College Park

• Matthew K. Grace, Hamilton College