Bishops affirm Catholic hospitals’ transgender policy

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops formally revised its guidelines for Catholic hospitals to ban transgender medical interventions. The changes reflected a longstanding Catholic commitment and came after input from the association and its members, the Catholic Health Association said on Thursday.

Will Catholic hospitals still care for patients who identify themselves as transgender? They would still perform regular medical procedures for such patients, and treat them with dignity and respect, the association said. Procedures altering sexual characteristics are allowed in cases of medical need due to an underlying condition, it said.

Catholic hospitals serve 1 in 7 patients in America every day. The network includes more than 2,200 medical facilities and related systems, according to the Catholic Health Association.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report about the new president of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference.