Pediatrician Won't Treat Baby With Lesbian Moms

A pediatrician in the Detroit area is now the center of a debate over gay rights after she refused to care for a newborn because the girl had lesbian parents. As the Detroit Free Press reports, when parents Jami and Krista Contreras brought their 6-day-old girl in for a check-up, they were informed that the pediatrician they had selected decided she could not care for the infant solely because of their homosexuality. Krista Contreras recalls being "dumbfounded," especially upon learning that the physician did nothing illegal.

“Under current Michigan law, a doctor has an absolute right to refuse medical treatment on the basis of sexual orientation," a legal analyst tells CBS Detroit. The pediatrician in question, 49-year-old Vesna Loi, wrote a note of apology and explanation to the parents. "I never meant to hurt either of you," it reads. "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." The women aren't suing, but they've gone public to let others know what LGBT parents sometimes face. "You're discriminating against a baby?" says Jami Contreras. "It's just wrong." (More pediatricians stories.)