Catholic Church formally bans gender-affirming care at its hospitals

The country's largest nonprofit health care provider will no longer offer gender-affirming care after Catholic bishops voted to ban the life-saving treatment in all church facilities.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops overwhelmingly approved the rule on Wednesday, which affects everything from hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries to talk therapy and other mental health services for all ages. While facilities run by the Catholic Church typically have not offered the care, the vote makes denial the official policy.

There are more than 650 Catholic hospitals and 1,600 Catholic long-term care and other health facilities in the U.S., according to the Catholic Health Association, which is the largest nonprofit provider of health care services in the nation. The organization estimates that it cares for approximately one in every seven patients across the country each day.

The group praised the decision as "consistent with Catholic health care practice," but said in a statement that “Catholic providers will continue to welcome those who seek medical care from us and identify as transgender."

The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the World Medical Association, and the World Health Organization all agree that gender-affirming care is evidence-based and medically necessary not just for adults, but minors as well.

Nearly a dozen religious organizations have since condemned the decision and released a statement in support of transgender people. Led by Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) President Sofía Betancourt, the signatories include leaders from the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, Metropolitan Community Churches, Union for Reform Judaism, Presbyterian Church (United States), Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, the United Church of Christ, Reconstructing Judaism, and the Episcopal Church.

“Our scriptures vary, but they share a common conviction. As we make justice our aim we must give voice to those who are silenced," the groups said. "Our shared values, held across many faiths, teach us that we are all children of God and that we must cultivate a discipline of hope, especially in difficult times. As such, we raise our voices in solidarity to unequivocally proclaim the holiness of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people, as well as the recognition of the entire spectrum of gender identity and expression."

“When people of faith and conscience stay silent in the face of oppression, we are all made less whole," the statement continued. "When people of faith and conscience speak out against that which violates the sacred in its own name, we have the power to stay the hand of sin. Transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people are vulnerable today. Our faiths, our theologies, and our practices of prophetic witness call on us to say with one voice to transgender people among us: ‘You are holy. You are sacred. We love you. We support you, and we will protect you.’”