Wilfred E. Watkins, M.D. v. Mercy Medical Center

Dr. Watkins is a licensed physician in Nampa, Idaho, specializing in urology. Since 1967, he had been given staff privileges at Mercy Medical Center in that city and served his medical and surgical patients there. The hospital has an affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church and had adopted the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Facilities. It receives federal funds under the Hill-Burton Act. [ 42 U.S.C. § 291 et seq.]

When Dr. Watkins sought renewal or reappointment to the staff in 1972, his application was refused on recommendation of the hospital’s board of directors and some subordinate committees. In his complaint for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (3), the doctor alleged that he was excluded from staff privileges because he refused to agree to abide by some by-laws of the hospital which prohibited certain sterilizations and abortion procedures in hospital facilities. This was alleged to violate the doctor’s rights under the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and entitled him to general damages and injunctive relief reinstating his staff privileges.

The district court found that it did not have jurisdiction to grant…