OCEANSIDE, Calif., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A lesbian who sued two Christian doctors in California after they refused to inseminate her has settled the long-running legal action, observers say.
Guadalupe Benitez of Oceanside, Calif., sued Drs. Douglas Fenton and Christine Brody in 2001 when they cited their religious beliefs in refusing to perform the procedure for her and her partner, Joanne Clark, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday.
The suit made its way all the way to the California Supreme Court, which last year ruled against the doctors, saying religious-liberty claims could not trump illegal discrimination, the newspaper reported.
In a statement released jointly by the couple and the doctors, Fenton and Brody said they wanted "all of their patients, including those who are lesbian and gay, to feel welcome and accepted in their medical practice." They added that they were sorry Benitez and Clark felt they were being discriminated against.
The Union-Tribune said Benitez went to another doctor and got pregnant with a boy who is now 7 years old.
