Woman with breast cancer cut off from treatment at Oregon medical organization for making 'transphobic remarks': Report

An Oregon woman suffering from advanced breast cancer claims she has been cut off from treatment at all Oregon Health & Science University facilities after she criticized transgender ideology to her doctor and other staff members.

Until recently, Marlene Barbera had strong ties to the Richmond Family Medicine Clinic in Portland. For 12 years, she had been seeing the same primary care physician who is affiliated with the clinic, and that same doctor also has some of Barbera's family members as patients, she told Reduxx.

Barbera regularly had appointments at the clinic because she has been ill for some time. An X account believed to be Barbera's said she had already received a liver transplant and that she had a double mastectomy procedure scheduled with RFMC in late August.

However, that potentially lifesaving procedure is now in jeopardy after the Oregon Health & Science University, the major medical organization to which RFMC belongs, reportedly cut Barbera off from any further treatment at any of its facilities because she made "disrespectful and hurtful remarks about our LGBTQ community and staff," a screenshot of a letter reportedly from OHSU practice manager Stein Berger said.

Barbera — a self-described "gender critical woman" who does not accept gender ideology and has repeatedly advocated for the biological reality of sex differences — admitted in an interview with Reduxx that she had expressed concerns to her doctor regarding a transgender flag that hangs in the reception area of RFMC.

"I have been threatened on Twitter by trans activists with rape and death — so it is daunting to go for medical treatment with that banner proclaiming that what I am, an adult human female, is a mere opt-in category for any gender non-conforming male and not a reality," she wrote to her doctor via MyChart message.

Not only had Barbera's concerns been dismissed, she indicated, but the MyChart message she had presumed to be private had been seen by various members of the clinic staff and not just her doctor.

After that, she had significant difficulty communicating with the clinic. When she called in June regarding blood work, a receptionist refused to help her and suggested that she make an appointment. The back-and-forth of that conversation became so heated that the person ultimately hung up, Barbera claimed. Barbera believes that the person may have become frustrated by her "non-compliance."

Barbera then called back, thinking that perhaps she had been wrong and that the person had hung up on accident. Unfortunately, the receptionist who answered was similarly unhelpful and allegedly demanded that Barbera speak with the previous receptionist, something that Barbera was unwilling to do.

Barbera then became snarky. "Did I hurt the trans person’s feelings?" she reportedly asked the receptionist in jest. The receptionist apparently was not amused. According to Barbera, she replied "slowly and with great emphasis": "What did you say?"

Whether Barbera continued to contact the clinic in the days following that call is unclear. But a couple weeks later, she claimed she received a MyChart message from OHSU practice manager Stein Berger accusing her of making "transphobic remarks." "Richmond is an all-inclusive clinic," Berger's message allegedly said, "and we value and advocate for diversity." Berger then reportedly followed up that MyChart message with an email confirming that she had been "dismissed" from all OHSU facilities, effective July 29.

Barbera, who also suffers from "severe chronic agitated depression," has been quite anxious since the email arrived. Chaya Raichik, who runs the popular Libs of TikTok X account, claimed that Barbera is exploring other "actions she can take against the hospital." However, those actions won't necessarily help Barbera in her fight against breast cancer.

Despite the challenges she faces regarding her physical health, Barbera remains firm in her principles. "Gender ideology is a religion. I do not subscribe to that religion. I would not force anyone to pray the rosary with me," she told Reduxx. "The trans movement says a man is allowed to define being a woman by way of his feelings but that a woman is not allowed to define being a woman by way of her material reality. So really, it is a men’s rights movement. Dangerous to women and children."

OHSU did not respond to a request for comment from Reduxx.

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