The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved a new policy that prohibits Catholic hospitals in the country from participating in “gender transition” treatments and surgeries, both in adults and minors. The measure comes at a time when some centers that present themselves as Catholic have been accused of collaborating with irreversible interventions linked to trans ideology.
The resolution was adopted during the bishops’ assembly in Baltimore. Although the policy is defined, its implementation will depend on each diocesan bishop, which puts the focus on the internal coherence of institutions that, in some cases, have strayed from the Church’s moral doctrine.
One of the most striking examples is that of the Providence Alaska Medical Center, in Anchorage, pointed out for having assisted in chemical and surgical interventions for people who identify as trans, despite presenting itself to the public as a Catholic hospital.
A clear stance against mutilation and irreversible damage
Although the approval of the document was not unanimous, the USCCB maintains a firm position: drugs and surgeries that block puberty, alter healthy biological functions, or destroy organs without a real therapeutic cause are morally inadmissible. The bishops remind that morally legitimate medicine seeks to cure, repair, or preserve the well-being of the body, never destroy natural functions to imitate the appearance of the opposite sex, something they qualify as contrary to human nature.
In a document presented to the courts in the case U.S. v. Skrmetti, the bishops emphasize that these procedures “do not seek to repair a defect in the body”, but to transform it artificially, sacrificing healthy organs and functions. The episcopal conference defended that States have the right to protect minors from irreversible interventions, thus supporting restrictive laws in the face of pressure from radical groups.
Science, biology, and growing damages
The USCCB recalls that in 2023 it had already issued a doctrinal note warning about the ethical and medical problems associated with trans treatments. Emerging scientific evidence—as well as testimonies from those who have desisted from transition—confirms that the supposed “benefits” of these interventions are not only doubtful, but can cause permanent damages.
Biology itself shows that sex cannot be changed. Puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and invasive surgeries do not modify the person’s sexual reality, but expose them to sterility, metabolic disorders, and serious psychological problems.
In information gathered by Life Site News, experts such as the Dr. Quentin Van Meter, president of the American College of Pediatricians, have qualified these treatments as a form of “child abuse”. Interrupting the natural development of the body—warns—is not medicine, but the deliberate creation of a state of disease.
Additionally, growing sociological evidence indicates that the rise in trans identity among adolescents responds in many cases to peer pressure, even being described as a form of “social contagion”.
A decisive step toward moral clarity
The USCCB’s decision represents clarity and urgency to restore moral coherence within the Catholic healthcare system in the face of an ideology that has infiltrated medical and educational institutions. In a landscape marked by confusion, the bishops give a clear message: a Catholic hospital cannot participate in practices that harm the integrity of the human body.
Now it is up to each diocesan bishop to ensure that this policy is implemented without ambiguities or excuses, so that the Church’s healthcare mission remains faithful to its foundation: to cure, respect life, and protect human dignity.