A federal appeals court on Friday struck down President Joe Biden's Health and Human Services mandate requiring doctors to perform medical procedures, including transgender procedures, that are against their religious beliefs.

According to The Washington Times, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld a lower court's judgment in Franciscan Alliance v. Becerra. The decision would protect roughly 19,000 healthcare professionals in Franciscan Alliance, a Catholic healthcare network, from performing medical procedures that go against their beliefs.

Initially, the lower court's ruling blocked HHS "from requiring Franciscan Alliance to perform gender-transition surgeries or abortions in violation of its sincerely held religious beliefs."

Joseph Davis, who works as counsel with Becket, a religious liberty group representing the physicians, said the ruling was appropriate for healthcare workers.

"This ruling," Davis says, "is a major victory for conscience rights and compassionate medical care in America. Doctors cannot do their jobs and comply with the Hippocratic Oath if the government requires them to perform harmful, irreversible procedures against their conscience and medical expertise."

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