A unanimous ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans blocking the Biden administration’s transgender mandate “is a major victory for conscience rights and compassionate medical care in America,” said the attorney who represented the plaintiffs in the case.

“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,” said Joseph Davis, counsel at Becket, a Washington-based religious liberty law firm.

Davis made the remarks about the court’s Aug. 26 ruling permanently blocking a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate that would have forced doctors and hospitals to perform gender-transition procedures on their patients even if this violated their conscience and medical judgment.