U.S. Catholic Bishops Approve Ban on Gender Transition Treatment at Catholic Hospitals

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops plenary assembly in Baltimore. Photo: AP

BALTIMORE — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted Wednesday to formally ban gender transition treatments at Catholic hospitals, finalizing a yearslong effort to align healthcare directives with Vatican teaching on gender identity, reports the AP and Fox News.

Meeting in Baltimore, bishops overwhelmingly approved revisions to their ethical and religious directives for the nation’s Catholic healthcare system, which serves one in seven patients in the U.S. The updated guidance bars hormonal, surgical, and psychological interventions aimed at altering a person’s sexual characteristics.

“With regard to the gender ideology, I think it’s very important the church makes a strong statement here,” said Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minn.

Individual bishops will have authority to implement the directives within their dioceses. The changes reflect previous Vatican and U.S. episcopal statements, including the 2023 doctrinal note “Moral Limits to the Technological Manipulation of the Human Body,” which declared that “Catholic health care services must not perform interventions…that aim to transform the sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex.”

The Catholic Health Association expressed appreciation for being consulted on the new guidelines. “Catholic providers will continue to welcome those who seek medical care from us and identify as transgender,” the group said. “We will continue to treat these individuals with dignity and respect.”

LGBTQ advocates, however, voiced disappointment. Michael Sennett, a transgender Catholic active in his Massachusetts parish, said, “Catholic teaching upholds the invaluable dignity of every human life, and for many trans people, gender-affirming care is what makes life livable.”

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, added that for many transgender Catholics, “the transition process was not just a biological necessity, but a spiritual imperative.”

As bishops debated gender identity, leaders of several progressive denominations — including the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and Union for Reform Judaism — issued a joint statement affirming transgender people as “created in the image of God – Holy and whole.”

In the same session, the bishops also approved a special message condemning mass deportations under the Trump administration, emphasizing compassion for migrants and refugees. “We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants,” their statement read, affirming that U.S. bishops “oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago urged stronger language in defense of immigrant families, saying, “That seems to be the central issue we are facing with our people at this time.”

Previously, UOJ reported that a gay ABC correspondent was confirmed in the Catholic church with his husband as his sponsor.

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