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Christian medical doctor Dr Jereth Kok, suspended from practising medicine over his biblical beliefs on abortion, marriage and gender, reveals God’s provision and guidance amid his struggle to return to the job he loves.

Dr Jareth Kok practised medicine for 15 years. After graduating from university, he worked in hospitals for several years. For the next ten years, he worked as a general practitioner.

Jereth enjoyed the variety in his work, meeting many different people, and caring for his patients. “But”, he says, “for the last five years I haven’t been able to do that.”

Beginning in 2018, complaints were made against Dr Kok over an article he wrote on the topic of transgenderism. That 2015 article appeared in the Christian newspaper, Eternity News (which ceased publication in March this year). Certain Facebook posts on abortion, same-sex marriage and transgenderism also drew the ire of anonymous complainants.

In response, the Medical Board of Australia suspended Dr Kok from practising medicine in 2019, determining it was in the public interest to do so.

‘The Process Drags On’

Dr Jereth Kok initially thought that his case would be heard within several months of his suspension. But that proved to be a false hope.

Instead, “You get these big long periods of several months where nothing happens. Then all of a sudden you get another letter saying that you need to respond. And so the process drags on in stops and starts.”

At the end of July, and after five long years, Dr Kok will face a tribunal to learn whether he will be permanently banned from practising medicine. He hopes that his appeal will be successful and see him restored to the profession he enjoyed for a decade and a half.

“In two weeks, when I have this trial, the medical board will be saying, ‘Jereth has done all these things and said all these things about these topics. And that amounts to misconduct. And the punishment for that misconduct should be that he is deregistered.’ Because I am not fit to be a doctor.”

“[The medical board] needs to prove that my actions amount to misconduct. My lawyers have to defend against that and give reasons why that is not the case.”

“The medical board have an expert in hormonal treatments of transgender people to give evidence against me, to say that the things I’ve said are wrong and harmful. And my lawyers have found other experts to give a counterargument. So that’s what’s going to happen.”

God’s Provision: ‘Never Missed a Bill’

Dr Kok is married, with two children. He was and still is the sole breadwinner of the family. When the suspension came, it could have spelt financial disaster.

But that is not Jereth’s testimony. Instead, he testifies to the provision of God during uncertain and difficult times.

“God was very gracious”, he recounts.

“He provided in quite an amazing way. We never missed any mortgage payments. We were able to keep putting food on the table. We never missed any bill payments.”

“God provided. We got through. I managed to retrain myself and I’m now working in a new field, which I enjoy.”

Guidance and Reassurance: ‘Suffering is Not Unusual’

Asked about how he navigated the past five years of uncertainty, Dr Kok points to his Christian faith as the basis for how he views and lives life.

“The reason I believe most of what I believe is because I’m a Christian. The reason I believe abortion is killing is because that is the longstanding Christian teaching based upon the Bible. The reason I believe what I believe about marriage, sexuality and gender is because of what the Bible says about these topics.”

It is this firm foundation in the Scriptures that gives Dr Kok certainty in uncertain times. “Knowing that I’m in trouble for expressing beliefs that are ultimately from the Bible, gives me reassurance that I don’t think I’ve done anything fundamentally wrong. I don’t need to feel guilty about this.”

“Knowing that God has a purpose in all that comes to pass gives me confidence that it’s unpleasant, but God has plans for all of this. And He will provide and He will get me through this.”

“Suffering is a part of what you expect as a Christian. There will be times – the Bible promises – that as a Christian, you will suffer for what you believe if you follow Jesus. Godly men in the Bible suffered. David suffered. And there are psalms written about responding to suffering. It provides a lot of encouragement and peace that suffering is not unusual. It’s not pleasant – but it’s not unexpected. It’s a part of the cost of being a Christian.”

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus makes an extraordinary victorious promise that His Church will be built – and not even the “gates of Hades” can do anything to prevent that from happening.

Yet, only a handful of verses after this proclamation of victory, Jesus counterintuitively teaches about suffering. Perhaps it’s a clue that victory is not the absence of suffering, but can be found in the middle of it.

Jesus taught that no one can be his disciple unless he is willing to “deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). For those who tread this path, Jesus promises that He “will reward each according to what he has done” when He comes “with his angels in the glory of his Father” (Matthew 16:27).

With this background, Jereth says, “While I wish none of this had ever happened, and I think it’s all been very unfair, it is part of what it means to be a Christian. And it’s what many Christians have had to go through throughout history. And there are many Christians in the world who go through a lot worse than this.”

Importance of His Tribunal

Dr Kok knows of other doctors who have found themselves in similar trouble.

While their situations have been less severe than his, “They had to undergo an investigation. They’ve had to be questioned and face that sort of intimidation. I know a number of people in many states where this has happened.”

Dr Kok’s upcoming trial has importance not just for himself – but for the medical profession at large.

While Jereth was quick to point out he was not a lawyer, his understanding of the tribunal process is that previous rulings influence and guide subsequent ones.

He highlights the critical nature of his trial this way: “If the ruling is that Jereth is guilty of professional misconduct because he wrote articles and said things opposing gender ideology and abortion and so on, then that ruling can be used against anyone else who ends up in the same situation.”

“They tend to follow precedent.”

“My concern also would be that if I get that adverse ruling, then that is saying to the regulatory system, AHPRA [the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency] and so on, that they need to police what doctors are saying online. And they have an obligation to do that because it is misconduct. So, my fear is that would increase policing presence over Christian doctors.”

“And the other side of that is what the activists will do. When they find out that this is now an area that is going to be policed much more strictly, they will be incentivised to go around and hunt through what Christian doctors have said, screenshot it, send it in and make complaints. That is an easy way to silence Christians who are saying things that they disagree with.”

“If a bad decision is made here, that will affect other people.”

While Jereth lives in Melbourne, his concerns are nationwide.

“These laws which govern how I as a doctor am regulated, it’s a national law. And it’s a law that covers all health practitioners under this scheme. So that includes dentists, doctors, physiotherapists, pharmacists, paramedics – it’s very wide. So if you get a legal precedent out of this that’s not good, that could affect a lot of people.”

How to Support Dr Jereth Kok

A GiveSendGo fundraiser is seeking to raise $210,000 to cover the legal expenses of Dr Jereth Kok’s trial. At publishing time, just under $150,000 has been raised, leaving a $60,000 shortfall.

Nevertheless, Jereth is grateful for the generous support he has already received. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of people who have expressed support and pray for us.”

“We need to raise money because there are a lot of legal costs. The trial is going to go on for a whole week. We need barristers to act for us during that week. They need to be paid for. There are expert witnesses who are going to give evidence who need to be paid for.”

“We need to raise a fair amount of money to cover all the legal costs and fees.”

As a result, Jereth “would really appreciate it if people can donate as they are able to. Even if you can donate $5 or $10 dollars, if a lot of people do that, it does add up.”

Dr Jereth Kok says raising awareness of his trial – and the implications it has for the medical field in Australia – is vital.

He also requests prayer – and lots of it. Jereth is required to give evidence, for which he asks for wisdom and clarity when speaking.

He also asks for prayer for his legal team. “Pray for the lawyers, because they need to do all the technical work. Please pray that they go in well-prepared, with the right arguments to make.”

Finally, he requests prayer for everyone involved, including those on the other side. Pray that they “hear the important truth that they need to hear, and are impacted by it.”